Comments on: We Are Only Dancing on This Earth for a Short While

By: David

David — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:13:54 +0000

Sorry to hear that Lazy Man…I feel for you too, as I lost my dad when he was 46. He seemed so old – until I got to be my age and now 46 doesn’t seem that far away OR old.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:21:32 +0000

Good post, LazyMan.
Yes, it’s true. This is a short visit we get here.
Death is a concept too complex to understand when you are a kid. But when your 2 grandfathers die when you are a kid (I was 9 and then 12) and none of the adults can explain what is happening (at least consistently), you are confronted with the cruel reality of life.
Now, as an adult, you are still reminded every day. One of my best friends from high school died 5 months back. I never talked to her after we graduated, but her family still took the time to let my family know she was in an accident and died.
Reality is we are blessed by whatever time we have on this earth, but the longer we stay the more attached we get. So work on your attachments, and you’d be happier.

By: Rook

Rook — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:49:14 +0000

I do understand now why older people in the movies say, ’save yourself, I’ve had a full life’. You are right, 45 is not a full life, but I approaching 40 and I think I’ve lived a much fuller life than someone who is 10 years old.

I dealt with death by realizing that even though we lose people all the time, new people are coming along into the world. Kind of zen, I guess, because the most difficult part of losing someone is watching the world continue on without them.

By: Mark Krusen

Mark Krusen — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:17:36 +0000

I can’t even imagine the death of a mate. My wife and I have been together for only 23 years. Those years have brought into our lives all kinds of emotions as you can well imagine.This is the very reason I can’t listen to sad songs on the radio. The best I do is tear up the worst turns me into a blubbering idiot.(It doesn’t help that I’m Bi-Polar)I can’t imagine a life with out her. And when that thought is brought into my mind by a song. Get out the hanky’s. Not very masculine of me I quess,is it?

By: Asia'h Epperson

Asia'h Epperson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:20:12 +0000

It really depend on how look at it. Nobody can say on behalf of the dead if they have lived a full life. How would you know they are not living a full life? Nobody knows.

By: Joseph Sangl

Joseph Sangl — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:02:09 +0000

There is nothing like being able to do what you are most passionate about. Every single day, I say to myself, “I can’t believe I get to do what I get to do for a living!”

But it would SUCK to have it cut short!

By: irina

irina — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:51:31 +0000

My husband who is my best friend is dying. We talk about death often. We hold hands. We arrange for signals he will be giving me from that *other world*. My husband who suffers Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), an incredibly cruel and extremely painful condition, has an amazing endurance and love for life.

We, people who are relatively healthy, don’t know how fortunate we are. And *by relatively healthy* I mean, we can get up and get out in the morning, our life doesn’t depend on a certain medication. We complain about little set backs in our life and often forget about the big picture: we are alive and it is a mystery and miracle in itself.

Many years ago my husband wrote a poem, One Way Street. It reads like this:

A cigarette smoked is irredeemable
A life burns out the same way
Quickly, irrevocably and in one direction.

When my husband wrote this, he was in his 20’s and he was perfectly healthy and carefree.

It is so true. We all travel in one direction, some just faster than others. I try to keep the big picture in mind all the time, it keeps me from sweating the small stuff.

By: FFB

FFB — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:49:45 +0000

First Wisdom Journal writes a real touching story now you’re doing it. I’m gonna short out my keyboard! So sorry to hear about your loss. There’s no good time to go. A person’s always too young. There’s always another experience to be had. When I was younger I had no thoughts on mortality. Now that I’m married with kids it’s something I think about. I want to see my kids and their kids grow up. Hopefully in the end they can say they had great times with me.

For a guy who says he doesn’t handle death well you wrote a great eulogy.

By: Meg from FruWiki.com and All About Appearances

Meg from FruWiki.com and All About Appearances — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:38:02 +0000

I’m only in my mid-20’s, but I’ve suffered a lot of losses — My dad when I was a kid, my younger nephew, my aunt this past year, three close friends including my roommate a year ago in March. Despite that, it never gets easier and you never know what to say.

Whatever you say or do, be prepared for someone to take it the wrong way, but understand that it doesn’t mean that you’ve done anything wrong. Grief messes with people’s minds. People are angry, and it’s especially tough when there is not clear person to blame.

The thing to keep in mind, though, is to be supportive of others’ grief. Let them grieve in their own way. Don’t be judgemental. The situation isn’t, “o.k.”, but it is o.k. to cry. It’s also o.k. not to cry.

Share memories with friends and don’t be afraid to laugh, but do be sensitive to others.

And while many people find comfort in their religious beliefs, be sensitive the the fact that some people may not share the same beliefs.

And for the record, yeah, I hope people shed a few tears for me when my time comes.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:25:29 +0000

Your post reminded me…a week ago, I checked out the Nathan Lane recording of Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I love the musical and was expecting a good time. Instead I ended up crying.

I’d seen it done at college with a number of my friends acting. In July of 2006, a part of that group (not an actress though) was killed in a car accident. We were both getting married the next summer. Her fiance was an even better friend and I remember seeing his life crumble in front of him. I still can’t believe that she’s not ever coming back. But I don’t think about it much, which is a good start. And her fiance is recovering too, he’s acting again—which was a big step forward.

I thought the same things you did…she never got the chance to be a wife, mother. And he never got the chance to be her husband.

On a side note…I haven’t seen Anya deal with death yet. That should be interesting…but not cool.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:14:42 +0000

A good way to pay bills is saving money? In response to this article, man that @#$%ing pisses me off. I know its spam but under the guise of legit commenting ugh. Anyway sorry to hear about that lazy…Im probably up there on the scale with you except that I have a whole different way of dealing with it, the nice unhealthy denial method. When my Grandma died last summer (she had a large part in raising me when I was young because my mom had a really bad back and my dad had to work a lot I sort of went into denial mode…Im not sure Ive dealt with it yet. Same thing with other people I have known that died…it just sort of gets shut down. In any case, I love Cat Stevens too, his defection to Islam and subsequent not releasing any more music is just short of travesty. I tear up everytime I hear “The Wind”