Dying is an interesting act/event. Dying has existed from the beginning of time, involves everyone, yet, is impossible to understand in the same manner as any other experience.
When I was in college I took a class named Death and Dying; more recently I attended a seminar on Dying and Grief. Religion, science, philosophy and, even comedy, all provide ideas about dying, but dying still remains a mystery.
I have the distinction of having made my first thoughts about dying known to my family when I was 4 or 5. I pushed a button to turn off a black and white television set and stared as the picture turned to a narrow band, with a somewhat elliptical center, across the screen. There was a soft, somewhat unusual sound and the band simply evaporated, leaving nothing on the screen. "That's what happens when you die", I said - an explanation that generally satisfies me to this day.
Whenever I feel really anxious about something, I can always count on soothing myself by thinking about a line from a movie (Key Largo) with Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. Humphrey, being threatened with a gun pointed to his head utters the following: "what are you going to do - kill me - everybody dies!
If nothing else, I have found writing about death to be rewarding; like her father, my daughter has been known to address this great mystery as well.
He Died
He joined his ancestors. He went to sleep. He bit the dust. He found the deep. He succumbed. He dropped. He met his day. He terminated. He perished. He passed away.
He croaked. He expired. He breathed his last. He kicked the bucket. He departed. He passed.
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He died He’s dead They’re all the same
Euphemisms trying to ease the pain ms/79
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Forgiven
You never know when your last day will be, What your last words will be,Or where you will be.
You won’t know who the last person you will see is, Or what your last action will be.
You hope you will get to do everything you want to, And that your family and friends are there for you.
But none of that is up to you.
You want to live your life as if it’s your last day, And live it to the fullest.
You don’t want to hold any grudges, Because they only bring pain.
You want to forgive everyone that has done you wrong, Because you want to be forgiven when it is your time. ss/09
