Death and Taxes Post (minus the taxes)

Rachel has a great post over at Testosterhome! I recommend reading her post in full. She is a good writer with lots of interesting posts from anecdotes to profound insights. In this post she shares how she and her husband decided to take their boys to the wake of a family friend. Here are snippets and my thoughts as well.

"While children (or any of us) should not live in fear of death, there’s also no need to shield them from it."

“Mom,” her son, Ethan admitted, “this is depressing.”

“No,” she told him, “this is life.”

"And it was – it is. There is joy and laughter and heartache and yes, death – because dying is part of what we were created to do. But in the midst of that, we celebrate life. We enjoy the good times, and we find the goodness in the sad times. And we remember that there, in the center of all of it, is a God who loves us."

I think that Rachel's response, "This is life" was so simple and yet such profound a thing to say!

Our children have gone with us to funeral Masses, wakes, viewings and graveside services from the time I knew they would behave appropriately (~3 or 4 years old).

My Dad died when I was 11 and many of my friends were not allowed to come to the funeral. I will never forget how that felt and how it set me apart in a very strange way. Only ONE friend came to the funeral, Kathy Eyerly -- coincidentally, my one very Catholic friend (I went to public school). I cherished her friendship greatly.

“Of this at least I am certain -- that no one has ever died who was not destined to die sometime.” St. Augustine