Be comfortable with death

Last year I lost my aunt and it was an honor to help at her bedside during in-home hospice. Death is not to be feared. It is a gift of grace. After she passed I was able to help wrap her in her shroud and blanket before being taken by the hearse. We as a society have an illogical distance to death and we have lost a bit of our humanity in doing so. I have been there to kiss a loved one and say thank you, and I was there when she literally left, and later when she was taken out of the house. After days of intense pain we all noticed she was smiling when her life left her body. I am comfortable with death as well as mortality as a caveat to appreciating what a miracle each person’s life is.

When I was six my little sister died and ever since then I have been ok with death. Once the worst has happened you realize that dying is inevitable. It happens all the time, all around us. In our society people do not like to acknowledge how common death is, so people don’t talk about it and are awkward around people who are dealing with loss. This doesn’t help anyone. We all know people who have died. It should not be a big taboo to talk about it.