“I thought of the stern Victorian determination to keep death in mind, the uncompromising tombstones: Remember, pilgrim, as you pass by, As you are now so once was I; As I am now so you will be…

Now death is uncool, old-fashioned.  To my mind the defining characteristic of our era is spin, everything tailored to vanishing point by market research, brands and bands manufactured to precise specifications; we are so used to things transmuting into whatever we would like them to be that it comes as a profound outrage to encounter death, stubbornly unspinnable, only and immutably itself.”

– Tana French In The Woods

Death truly is the only thing in life that touches each of us – there’s no way to avoid it.  It may appear abruptly with no announcement, or it may linger on the doorstep indefinitely before entering and destroying the peace in our house.  However it may enter our lives, it’s a rude interruption.  And especially in today’s world.  We’ve lost a lot of our coping skills as Tana French so eloquently states.  We’re often insulated from death; nursing homes, hospitals, no longer several generations in one home, less infant and childhood death.  Despite all that, we will encounter death, and if we don’t deal with it in a mature manner, grief can be debilitating. Continue reading →