You know, no-one is ever going to get out of this world alive and the best we can hope for is to die of old age and not in pain. We human beings are really pitifully fragile entities, aren't we?
It's almost unbearable to see a terminally ill child but, when the patient is elderly, we feel a sadness to lose their presence but can mollify ourselves with the thought that they'd had a long life. I have a friend in his 90's who has begun to fail. It helps to know that he's lived a great many years and led a varied and interesting life. He's much loved by his family, well taken care of and will be to the end.
What's difficult for those left behind is the knowledge that the person they love is totally gone from them and they don't know how permanent the loss is...will we be united in another world or dimension when we pass away, too? Will we recognize each other if that should happen? Will the love and affection carry on in the afterlife?
It's almost universally true that we don't appreciate our lives or health while we have it and tend to fool ourselves that we'll never age or ail or, if we do, it will be in the far, distant future. I guess that's a preferable attitude than living our lives with the niggling fear of not knowing when death will strike us down, though.
When my friend does pass away, I hope he continues on a journey to maybe a better and kinder life than what we have on earth. I'm betting he does.
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