It's a new reality; it dawned on me this morning that I must make friends with Death.

No, I’m not terminal, any more so than the rest of us are terminal.  In that respect, we are all of us terminal.  None of us get out of here alive.

But I’ve approached a point in my life where Death will be a more frequent visitor, someone who will join in the conversation frequently, who’ll be the featured guest at more and more of the events in my life.

Up to now I’ve managed to avoid Death, save for those rare occasions dictated by utter fluke or entirely expected, nearly scheduled.

From here on out, Death will be a guest at many of the events my friends and close acquaintances host.  Perhaps I will have to host an event or two as well, at which Death will be the cause célèbre.

Our parents are getting older, feebler, their health not as sure as it once was.  Our friends have reached the danger zone – overweight, late forties-early fifties, too many years of smoking and drinking, high stress jobs – and may take the powder on us at any time.  People that work for us or with us, those troopers who valiantly carry the day with backbreaking labor and grueling toil, will go suddenly on a permanent vacation.

All of them, each of us, events waiting, occurring more frequently -- and Death being a guest in attendance.

So?  How does one warm up to Death?  Does one immerse one’s self in learning all they can about Death?  Or does one simply greet it as it comes, shake its hand and pat its back and offer it tea?

The alternative is avoidance, and I think that’s an impossibility, being human.

10:14:51 AM    comment []