Obituaries

I have this strange habit of reading Obituaries in the newspapers as and when and where I see them. My first instinct is to look at the date of birth of the departed one, and assess if the deceased had had a long life. My eyes then shift to the names and relationships mentioned below the picture. An older person has grandchildren, while a younger one would have the spouse and children mentioned there. The most tragic ones are the youngest lot, who had yet to see the rainbow their life could be. I cannot help wondering what could have caused their departure- was it sickness, accident, a foolish decision...either way, it is sad especially for the immediate family. A long life, on the contrary, carries an assumtion of a well-lived life and a lot of relationships that adorned the deceased's life on this earth, and death seems to be the natural course of life cycle in such a case.

This may sound gross to some, but I just cannot help noticing it. A silent prayer for the gone passes as I hope that their loved ones find the courage to move on. But there was something in the obituary i saw yesterday that made me pause a little longer than the usual. The gentleman in this one was born in the same year as I, and is survived by his wife and daughter. I felt weird, sad and scared, all at the same time. I could not imagine that I am already in the ‘possible to die now’ age range. I could not imagine what it would be like for his wife and daughter now. Everyone who loses a dear one, or a dearest one, ceases to live for a long while, but in this case, their lives would  literally cease. Their bank account could be frozen, their visa cancelled. With the breadwinner gone, they have to move back to their home country, learn to live without him,  all on their own, and all over again. It would be so much of hard work, both emotionally, and financially…I really hope their future life is not as tough as it seems to me right now…

On a similar note, I was wondering why is it that when you hear the bad news, you keep getting bad news. It started with our teacher's father’s death, followed by my friend’s mom, then a colleague’s brother, then Japan…it seems God needs everyone at once! I am now waiting for the good news, and I know once you start seeing birth announcements, you will keep on seeing them everywhere- God probably sends also in batches, at least  I hope so!