by Caroline Tigeress

Created on: July 01, 2009

Death is something that many people fear, but I would put to you that it is not death we need to fear, it is the process of dying. I have spent many, many years of my life working with people who are in various stages of dying (as well all are).

I have worked in nursing homes, skilled medical facilities, group homes with both disabled and geriatric patients. I have changed countless feces filled diapers, cared for persons who have been horribly abused and then discarded by their own families. I have worked with those who are physically combatitive and emotionally violent.

It is not death you should fear, its how you die.

How do you want to die?

Me, I'm going for the easy chair mode. I want to die in my old easy chair, beer in hand, watching the tube or pecking out another story on the computer. Maybe I will get lucky enough to die alone, as I have lived alone for most of my life. That probably seems pretty wierd, but I'm a pretty wierd person. I admit to it, and wear it like a badge of personal honor.

I would like it to be a sudden death too, like a major stroke. One minute you are here, the next minute you're headed off into the afterlife.

That is also important, to know your morals and values, and attitudes regarding death and your beliefs in the afterlife, should you even believe in one.

As a Pagan and a Witch, I firmly believe in my afterlife. I have seen visions of my next life, event structures, that I firmly believe will occur.

However once you die, you have to understand your death will have meaning; it will have impact on those around you. You need to be very mindful, and respectful of this concept. Your wishes need to be crystal clear, laid out in stone for your next of kin, should you have any.

This is a critical element about how we are survived that is important of anyone's death. Once you take the time to address this concern, to make your last wishes clearly known, you can only then go into death all the easier.

I'm entering into a new relationship at this point in my life. My new partner will have authority, I am sure at a certain point (as I'm the older of us), to take charge of my personal belongings. I will have it spelled out in no uncertain terms, what goes where, and to whom. I will have my body taken care of in a specific manner consistent with my faith.

This is why I do not fear death, but dying. Death is easy. It's that dying part that will kill you.

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