O Death

So, I am planning on stopping by a funeral home this evening because the father of a few of my friends died late last week.  I had no clue.  We are friends, but I don't know if we're so close (at least right now; we were huge friends in high school) that they would feel as though they would let me know their dad was sick.  I'm not offended.

Most of the only times I saw him were at the family's house, where I would come to celebrate New Year's.  We never had long or deep conversations, but from the conversations I had with him and from observing him interacting with his kids, he was a really nice guy.

There's been an awful recent block of deaths of people two degrees apart or I don't know.  Janet Lupo, a very popular Playboy Playmate, died a couple days ago.  And a couple of aunts of Facebook friends have died recently.  I don't know what's going on, but it feels as though there's a purge of, well, living people.

The past couple nights, as I was turning in to sleep, I jolted myself into sudden shock.  Thinking about all this death surrounding me, in particular the father of friends I've known a long time, I realized that this isn't stopping.  It's going to continue, and it's going to accelerate, and everyone will have his or her turn at heartbreak.  Including me.

My parents are getting up there, but they've got enough energy to go to Vegas soon.  But, one day, I'll hear the news that they're really sick.  And then it'll dawn on all of us, on me, that either Father or Mother won't get better, and so we'll all face days of decline in health till ... you know.  And then I'll try to turn in to sleep, and I'll realize that things won't get better -- that one day, they'll be gone.  And then I'll be wishing for the days I am having now, when things are good, before things inevitably age and die.