Life is too short. I know that this is something that we all know, but death has a way of sneaking up on you.

I wouldn't call myself an expert in death, but I must admit that it is something that I've given a lot of thought to. Back in one of my english classes for college, I studied the work of Elizabeth Kubler-ross and her 5 stages of dying. Due to the nature of the course, I ended up analyzing these 5 stages much more then I ever would have wanted to. I focused a lot on what goes through the mind of someone who is dying and also what goes through the families mind, and how frequently those two thoughts are a lot alike. I have the final essay I wrote for the class, and you can read it here on my site. Anyway, I've anylized and thought about death more then most people ever want to do, and I've come to believe strongly in the model that kubler-Ross developed. I also think that death always affects us the same and that it is something that we can never fully understand, therefor it is always on our minds.

It's 1:32 in the morning, and I'm typing this on an iPhone note, so forgive my rambling. It's just with the sickness of angel, I'm forced to recall how precious life really is. Since I'm religious, I know that the lord givith and the lord takeith away. I guess my point is, we never know when death can occur. I recently recieved news that one of my old high school buddies was killed in a car wreck. And three high school seniors were killed in a car wreck here just weeks before graduation this year. People get sick. People get old. Accidents happen. Yet when death comes upon us, there is nothing we can do.

So, I guess I'm saying to always remember to live everyday like it's your last. Enjoy life, and try to have as few regrets as possible, for tomorrow you might bot get the chance to fix them. And alays remember, no matter how bad things get, always ALWAYS remind your family and friends that you love them and tell them what they mean to you. It's like the saying, "Never go to bed mad." you never know if you'll get to say sorry the next morning. And no one wants to have to live forever knowing that the last thing you said to someone was ugly. I remeber having a childhood friend who had a fight with their father, and they let him walk out the door without trying to patch things up. The father went out, went to the store, and then his heart exploded in the parking lot and he was killed instantly. I still talk to that friend, and anytime we talk about the past, he always mentions the regret he has in not patching things up before his dad left for the day.

So, moral of the story is, if you're mad at anyone right now, walk away from the computer and patch it up. I'm about to take my own suggestion and email someone who hurt me 7 months ago, someone I haven't talked to since, and try and clear the air. I would hate to look back 20 years from now and only remember the terrible things we said to each other the last time we talked....... It's hard, but there are two things that we have to accept in life: One, everyone dies in their own time, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. And second, everyone will mess up eventually, and it takes a lot of strength to move on and make up.

I leave you now with a thought from kubler-Ross and why she did the research she did... And what we can gain from thinking about, and being around death. Thank you, all my friends, for making my life better.

"I guess there's no way to learn but the hard way. That's the way I had to learn. My best teachers were my dying patients. If you dare to get involved, if you dare to sit down and help them go through the stages of dying, they will help you learn not only to become comfortable in caring for them, but also to face, one inescapable day, your own death with dignity. That is, perhaps, their "good-bye gift" to you”

~James~