Death

Somewhere, probably right now, someone - probably an elderly fellow or lass - with undeniable whit and intelligence, is uttering the famous saying, "youth is wasted on the young." The truth behind this saying is really none of my concern. I dont necessarily agree that youth is wasted on the young, but I can understand the merits behind the statement. However, I digress....

I have a greater claim. One that to make makes more sense as I grow closer to my waning years: "Death is wasted on the dead." We will never know what death is about because the only people who really know are already dead.

We all can remember what being young was about, but can any of you tell me what being dead is like? No, because none of you have been dead. Sure there are those people who have seen the light and have come back to life, but in my eyes, they werent dead! They were merely nearly-dead, and nearly-dead is nothing like dead, however near it may be.

Only those who have died and stayed dead could truly explain the life-altering experience that is death, and, unfortunately, the last time I checked, there is no way to communicate with the dead, no matter what John Edwards might lead us peons to believe. And by the way, fuck John Edwards - that statement ends this tangential editorial.

So what is death like? Is there really a light? Do we pass through the pearly gates after being greeted by the great Saint Pietro (Peter)? Do we get to relive our favorite times and experience our life from a different perspective? Do we get to see all the good, or perhaps bad, that we have done and who we have affected to what extent? Are their really answers?

Or are we just dead? One minute we experience life and the next we dont. Pretty drab and depressive, huh? Maybe that's why religion was created, to make dying more acceptable - knowing that we will be "going to a better place."

Me? Ive accepted death as an inevitable. Im not scared of it or even a bit weary. Why? Because other than death and taxes, it is the One thing that each and every one of us, at one time or another, will get to experience. It's just a shame that none of those who have experienced it can tell the rest of us what to expect.