Death...what do you think about it--or do you?

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NewLIFEstyle4ME
NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
Wow! I'm in shock. One of my older neighbors just dropped in to tell me about another older neighbor who moved from the neighborhood and few years ago, to let me know she'd be coming in town soon and to see if I wanted to join them for lunch. That's nice, but what she told me next is why I started this thread.

She then told me, in an extremely casual way that she had contacted our old neighbor to let her know that so-and-so had died.
She told me this in the exact same manner and way that one would casually ask how one is doing, or that I'm having tacos for dinner--so casual it shocked the mess outaof me. I asked her how she could so causally share this, seeing she was her friend and neighbor for soooo many years. She then told me, "I know, she was so very young too and explained how she died. No sorrow, no pity, no anger, no joy, no nothing--just a matter of fact--the same way someone would announce a new goldfish they had had died. This woman that died was extremely popular in our town (or so I'd always thought). The announcement of her death was written in the paper (my neighbor told me), but I haven't been reading the papers like I used to--so I didn't have a clue.

Anyway...when I googled up her name...she only had one person to comment about her on her obituary...just ONE!

That is so shocking to me. I didn't know this woman personally--but she was an acquaintance and again, well known about town (in a very good way), but whenever we'd see each other, would wave hi or give the casual greeting and smiles. She moved out of the neighborhood before we got here, but again, she was extremely well-known and popular around town, as a successful business woman.

WOW.....she is/was also MY AGE....in her 50's. She was extremely active, attractive and slim and trim and seemingly had it ALL....she died from complication of some medical issues she was having taken care of in the hospital last month.

So to my question....DEATH???!!??? What do you think about it (for yourself and others/known and unknown)--what do you think about it....or do you?
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Replies

  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
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    What do you mean "what do I think about it"?


    I think that it happens to everyone, and it sucks.
  • boothekm
    boothekm Posts: 60 Member
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    I'm a Christian so naturally I know I'm going to heaven. However, that does not mean I want to go now. I think you shouldn't worry about dying and live everyday to the fullest.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    Death... what do I think about it?

    It's going to get each and every one of us. And I'm not going to care if only one person comments on my obits... I really won't.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
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    im the type of person who thinks about death constantly. sometimes more than others, but i usually think about it every few days. im pretty anxious naturally. i dont know how much the average person thinks of it. im only 25 but i want to be as healthy as possible and live to be an old age.

    i think its something everyone thinks about occasionally, as it happens to all of us (unless you are immortal... i dont judge)
  • bigbear167
    bigbear167 Posts: 39 Member
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    really don't think about death anymore since I have come close several times.i no longer fear it and
    accept that death comes to every living thing.so I try to live my life the best I can. and am enjoy every
    sunrise and sunset.:)
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,344 Member
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    I think more about conciousness than death, I just can't imagine not existing anymore, I also can't imagine existing forever in some form or another, it really makes my brain tired to think about it. It just doesn't make sense to me that you would go to heaven for eternity but it also doesn't make sense that we just stop existing. I like the idea of reincarnation, your conciousness still exists and even though it goes on and on it's not quite so mind numbing because you don't remember the lives you have had before........okay my brain is really friggin tired again.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    It is inevitable. I'm not afraid of it, although I do plan to try to avoid it for as long as possible.
  • ZealousMissJJ
    ZealousMissJJ Posts: 454 Member
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    What I think about death?

    It is one of the only (if not only) certainty in life. Some die sooner than later. It's never fair for the ones left behind.

    My mom died from cancer two weeks ago. I've thought about death A LOT these past 10 months. Death will always come. And how you deal with it is your own choice. My mom wasn't afraid. She faced her death with courage and even chose her own moment to go (euthanasia).

    For the people who are left behind it is the hardest. But I have a choice too, and I choose to enjoy life, so I can tell her all about it when I see her again. On her deathbed we spoke about how we woud see eachother again one day, and how I hope she will come to welcome me.

    Just make the best of life and don't fear death. You can't beat it anyway.
  • yummy_
    yummy_ Posts: 248 Member
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    death is no biggie.
    it's the time preceding death that is important.
  • Vune
    Vune Posts: 672 Member
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    I live with chronic illness. I've lived by being hooked up to machines. I have new diagnoses all the time to explain why my body works the way it does.

    What do I think of death?

    I know I will be ready for it. Probably sooner than medical science runs out on me. I'd love to be free of pain and fear. I'd love to have no ties to this mortal meatsack. I'd love to get rid of the inner monologue and all ties to humanity. Respite.

    Death of others hurts. Many of my friends are also living with disabilities, and I've watched a few bow out these past years. In the long run, though, I'm mostly concerned with my own, and I'm not above choosing it.
  • diodelcibo
    diodelcibo Posts: 2,564 Member
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    One can try to avoid it but it always happens and everyone else's life goes on.
  • theCarlton
    theCarlton Posts: 1,344 Member
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    I'm losing a lot of people lately so... death sucks. These are the things I've learned in the last 2 years:

    - Have a healthcare surrogate who can actually go through with pulling the plug should you want that to happen. Sometimes who you've assigned to do it won't be able to in the heat of the moment, especially if they can be morally conflicted. Really think about this.

    - Don't commit suicide. Even when you think no one cares, someone does, and you're destroying a lot of lives in the process. Your wife shouldn't have to lie to your small children about how you died.

    - Stop acting like life's too short - sometimes you make that *kitten* short yourself. Your mom shouldn't have to bury you. Stop eating like you're not moments away from your next meal, especially if you have other risk factors involved in the first place. Stop smoking. Don't tell me your wife wouldn't have rather spent her golden years with you than without you. Shaving 20 years off your life makes a big difference when you drop dead in your 50s.

    - Make it so your family doesn't have to pay for your funeral or cremation. The fact that you kicked the bucket is hard enough to deal with.

    - Don't JUST pray for people or "keep them in your thoughts". That comforts you, no one else. Go over to the friend whose husband died and bring her something to eat, take her mind off her troubles for a few minutes.
  • KCoolBeanz
    KCoolBeanz Posts: 813 Member
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    I used to be a funeral director/embalmer, so obviously I'd been around it a ton. I figured I had a pretty good handle on it, until my grandmother died last year. The circumstances slapped me in the face so hard, it's literally been life-altering.

    It's inevitable, and for the most part, unpredictable. Although in terms of my own mortality, I don't really think about it - I'm of the opinion that "when it's my time, it's my time. "
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    Thanks for cheering us up, OP! :flowerforyou:
  • Jersey_Devil
    Jersey_Devil Posts: 4,142 Member
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    It's part of the circle of life. nothing more, nothing less.

    circlecont.jpg
  • pugsleyjean
    pugsleyjean Posts: 135 Member
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    I'm a Christian so naturally I know I'm going to heaven. However, that does not mean I want to go now. I think you shouldn't worry about dying and live everyday to the fullest.

    Amen! :)
  • GregLeatherman
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    My father died early due to a stubborn refusal to address his own health. He ate and smoked himself into an early grave and because of it, he died from a relatively minor injury. Like a lot of folks, I think he believed that death would not really come for him.

    Since he died, I quit smoking for good, changed my diet, began exercising regularly, and even started sleeping more..

    More people should give death some serious thought. They might just find that they choose to live better.
  • Imaginary1
    Imaginary1 Posts: 16
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    I tend to react matter of factly to death as well. It's just easier to deal with that way. I wouldn't judge how she really feels by the way she talked to you on one occasion.
  • weevil66
    weevil66 Posts: 600 Member
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    Saturday was the three-year "anniversary" (I hate that word in association with death and tragedy) of my husband's death. Death sucks.

    One thing I did learn is that people deal with death in different ways. Some people are more compartmentalized than others. It doesn't mean that they don't care or they don't feel or grieve, they just handle it differently.
  • weevil66
    weevil66 Posts: 600 Member
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    What I think about death?

    It is one of the only (if not only) certainty in life. Some die sooner than later. It's never fair for the ones left behind.

    My mom died from cancer two weeks ago. I've thought about death A LOT these past 10 months. Death will always come. And how you deal with it is your own choice. My mom wasn't afraid. She faced her death with courage and even chose her own moment to go (euthanasia).

    For the people who are left behind it is the hardest. But I have a choice too, and I choose to enjoy life, so I can tell her all about it when I see her again. On her deathbed we spoke about how we woud see eachother again one day, and how I hope she will come to welcome me.

    Just make the best of life and don't fear death. You can't beat it anyway.

    I am so sorry. Big hugs from me.