Death will come for us all

Elessar wrote:

I was visiting a relatives grave recently and as I walked through the graveyard I couldn't help but think that this will be me eventually - 6 ft under. In fact, everyone has the same fate. No matter how rich, successful, famous or powerful you are, you will die. Its lifes only 100% guarantee.

Elessar wrote:

I was visiting a relatives grave recently and as I walked through the graveyard I couldn't help but think that this will be me eventually - 6 ft under. In fact, everyone has the same fate. No matter how rich, successful, famous or powerful you are, you will die. Its lifes only 100% guarantee.

Elessar wrote:

It's hard to fathom, in our day to day lives, going to work, speaking to friends/family, browsing boards etc., whatever. We're completely removed from this universal truth. But when you're around those who have already died, it hits home fairly quickly. I've been having a bit of an existential crisis ever since. What am I going to do when my only remaining close family member passes on? I'll be completely alone in the world. What do I really want from my life? Is this truly it? Maybe I should quit the job, travel, fall in love. Get completely out of my comfort zone.

Elessar wrote:

I was visiting a relatives grave recently and as I walked through the graveyard I couldn't help but think that this will be me eventually - 6 ft under. In fact, everyone has the same fate. No matter how rich, successful, famous or powerful you are, you will die. Its lifes only 100% guarantee.

Elessar wrote:

What do other boardsies think of this 'I'm actually going to die one day' thing?

How do you know you weren't on the titanic?

There can be only one!

Im going to pass away like my grandad peacefully in my sleep, not screaming in terror like his passengers.

I used to worry about dying but since I lost my mum I don't really care anymore. I don't believe in an afterlife so for me, this is it.

It says on my grandfather's headstone:

Sum quod eris, fui quod sis

(I am what you will be, I was what you are)

Death is a part of life. Worrying about it is a waste of time.

Hits everybody like a slap in the face the whole death lark, especially when you lose people you knew your whole life.

Most people's first experiences are grandparents, I've lost 3 so far, my Gran in 2004 to pneumonia and the freaky thing about it she knew she was going to go, she had a really bad flu and she hated doctors after an operation on a slipped disc in her back left her almost unable to walk, she put on an awful lot of weight as a result, anyway she was on the phone to my mother the night before, I could hear her in the background as I was down looking around for a midnight snack, my Gran says to my mam "Your brother is home for the weekend, I'm going to give him the flu and it's going to be the death of me" the following morning my aunt found she passed away in her sleep. I'll never forget the landline ringing that Sunday morning, I was in secondary school then so I loved my Sunday lay in so I was thinking "F**k that I'm not running down to answer it because any time I do it stops ringing the second I make it to the phone, and it's often a wrong number, it's always somebody looking for the local newspaper office which had a similar number to us.

The phone rang for must have been 10 minutes straight non-stop, which I thought was peculiar, still wasn't getting out of bed to answer it, just as I fell back asleep, the front door is being pounded on, it was my mam's sister with the worst news ever. It was bloody awful.

This followed my mam's Dad in 2009, lung cancer withered him away.

Lost my Father's dad in January, who lived only across the road from me for all of my 27 years, he had some severe pain in his stomach around Christmas week, by new year he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, went up to Dublin in mid January for a biopsy and he was in no form for going up there because of the pain and discomfort he was in but they lugged him into an ambulance and brought him up, as soon as he was returned to our local hospital there was a new air bed there for him, tea and biscuits for everyone and the doctors seemed more all over him than the previous fortnight.

My Dad and his siblings went home at about 10pm, my Dad was just about relaxed after a long enough week running around after Grandad, he went to bed at 2am, next thing the phone rang and there was a mad panic as Grandad took a turn, my mam and two of my Dad's sisters went out, Dad couldn't even get out of bed because of a sleeping tablet he took. In the space of that mad panic of 15 minutes, Dad emerged from his room and told my sister and I he was gone. It was so mad how quick it happened and we were lost for words. My sister and I stayed up all night and were very shook over it, I was only out in the hospital 3 days before hand too and gave him some headphones for his radio, it was one of his better days, wasn't in as much pain but I'd imagine he was drugged up, he didn't look that sick other than his stomach looked a bit swollen.

The next few days were very tough, having to see him in a box. The wake was so surreal, I don't think I ever laughed and cried as much in years between the hilarious stories I was told about Grandad and the sadness of him not being around anymore. Everybody put in bits and pieces into the coffin including a can of Guinness, Bounty Bars, someone put an Irish flag pendant on his shirt, my aunt put in a Kilkenny jersey at his feet, I printed off a load of pictures and gave them to everybody to put in, my sister who is pregnant with her first child was supposed to bring him a picture of her first scan for his locker but he died hours before she was going to visit, so that picture went in beside him as well.

I was a bit terrified of carrying the coffin with my Dad, uncle and a few cousins after feeling the weight of it before everyone else did when I was asked to help two of the undertakers put the coffin into the hearse when we were taking him from the house to the church, I happened to have been standing closest to it and they called me over to do it real quick but at the church we were all grand carrying it in and out. Another uncle played bagpipes when we brought Grandad to the graveside, it was the saddest part of the whole thing hearing those pipes, then when we put Grandad on them ratchet strap things and the last of the prayers are said. I never stood that close to the grave before, not even with my other Grandparents, so it was really final watching them lower him in, was almost like looking into a jagged clay bottomless bit, it looked like it had no end. Don't think I ever want to be buried after looking at that.

Can't imagine a day where I'd have to bury anyone closer to me, hopefully none will be before their time and it's as painless as possible.

Newsflash:

Boardsies contemplate mortality!

There are people around my way who are dying to get into the graveyard.

Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.