User:Paine Ellsworth/on Death

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Death is the cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include senescence, predation, malnutrition, disease, suicide, homicide, starvation, dehydration, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury. In most cases, bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death.

Death – particularly the death of humans – has commonly been considered a sad or unpleasant occasion, due to the affection for the being that has died and the termination of social and familial bonds with the deceased. In some cultures, death is perceived as a time for celebration as the deceased enters the afterlife. Other concerns include fear of death, necrophobia, anxiety, sorrow, grief, emotional pain, depression, sympathy, compassion, solitude and saudade. Many cultures and religions have the idea of such things as an afterlife and reincarnation. They also may hold the idea of reward or judgement and punishment for past sin.

A last hurrah?
As I approach my own personal cessation of biological functions that sustain me, I'm compelled more and more to find out about how others think and feel about death. I can remember my first "brush" with death at the funeral of my great-grandmother when I was but four years old. I cried even though I had never met her. When my mother asked me why I was crying, I told her it was because several others there at the funeral were crying, and I thought it was the right thing to do. That was my very first inkling of death and especially of my own mortality. And now, 70 years later, I have thwarted death several times, and yet never in a million years did I ever think I would live this long! (hurrah ;-)

Upon my own demise
Me? I don't believe in ghosts. And I really don't take religious spirituality very seriously either. And yet, if I do by chance enter the "ghostly realm" and of course stop editing, I might just come back and haunt ol' Jimbo – but not in a scary way. If I can, I will do everything possible to make his life a living heaven. As a boomer I've already helped to make things for him and his Gen X generation much easier as he grows older. Wouldn't mind continuing that trend right on into the afterlife. Yes, I plan to continue editing right on up to the end of my days, so if I've stopped contributing to this awesome reference work, then it might mean that I've finally discovered what all this fuss is about. Best Of Everything To You And Yours!