Death

Death. Where do I start? Death is inevitable. Death is unavoidable. Death causes pain, both emotionally and physically. Death is just another part of life.

My parents are quite old in comparison to myself, so I grew up with only one grandparent. My Mom’s father died when I was five years old. At the time, I didn’t comprehend what was going on. I didn’t understand where my papa was and why he wasn’t coming back. I remember crying at his funeral. I remember holding my mother while she cried. I felt her pain.

A few years ago, my uncle died. I hadn’t seen him in ten years because he was very sick and lived far away. About a year later, my other uncle died. I saw him maybe once a year. The first uncle was family by marriage, the second by blood, but both were family just the same. I didn’t cry for either of them. I didn’t know them well enough to cry.

Death is something we will never fully understand why happens. Death represents an end, but I believe death is not a time for mourning loss, it should be a time to celebrate how that person lived. My papa fought in Japan during World War Two. He served his country well and came home a hero. His mind never fully came back with him, but he was a brave and honorable man just the same. I choose to remember him as a hero.

Go home. Tell your wife, your husband, your children, your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, your uncles and aunts and all of your friends that you love them. Tell them how you feel before their time is up because you never know when that time may come. Life is short. Go live your life to the fullest so the loved ones you leave behind can celebrate you, rather than mourn your loss.
Life is but a blank slate. You are born and then you die. But the lucky ones, they live on forever, as legend.

(Original Post on May 27, 2011 at: http://dft.ba/-BSMeyers46 )