Have you noticed that we've all become immortal these days. No-one every dies. They pass. They often don't even pass away. They just .... pass. Even the vicar at the funeral I attended today talked about passing.
People die. They have died. They are dying. We all die. Noel Coward, bless him, made great humour out of it in Blythe Spirit. Do see it if you never have - it's an excellent play.
Is it going to move like water closet to lavatory and toilet, to little girl's room or other silly phrases, I wonder? Maybe we died in the past, passed in the present and perhaps we'll move through in the future.
Just listen the next time there's news of a bereavement and see if you can spot the reluctance to say the word
As a recently bereaved person I have been using the 'died' word a lot because, much to my great sadness, this is what has happened. I can tell people find it very difficult to hear from me. When selecting a poem for the funeral I was taken with 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' because it simply expresses sentiments many share. Our vicar was not keen on it because of the last line 'I am not there, I did not die.' I know it is not meant literally, but I think she was right. Death is a part of life we have to embrace, though difficult. I suspect that pretending it has not happened, stores up many problems.
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