Death Sucks!

There was a time in my life when I had never been to a funeral.  I knew what death was all about, but I’d only had to face it in the abstract.

First there was the period where it was my grandparent’s, then parent’s, generation that was the cause of all the funerals.  It was sad, often tragic, but it was a part of the understandable circle of life.  People get old and then die.  It’s the way things are supposed to work.

Then one day, death hit my generation.

All of a sudden it wasn’t about distant relatives or “old” people.  Death struck people I knew.  People that were only a few years older than me, and on some occasions, even younger.  It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair.  Death sucks!

I’m grieving right now for a friend who had a massive heart attack and left us suddenly.  He leaves behind a wonderfully charming and beautiful wife, along with a son and grandchild.  His sudden passing leaves a hole in a circle of friends that will never be quite the same again.

Unfortunately, I’m going to need to travel this path again – and I fear it will be in the near future.  Death has met my generation, and is apparently making really good friends with it.  No matter how I try, I can only keep it away temporarily.

I’m trying to be strong, to be a good friend, to be supportive, and to keep memories in a happy heart.  But death really sucks!

Image credit:  SXC