I saw this as a blog topic and it struck me as funny. The answer is no. I have not literally dug a grave, put in a body and covered the grave.
I’m guessing they are looking to answer this question “Has anyone you cared about died?? The answer to that of course, is yes.
Before I go on, the opinions expressed are my own and if you feel differently then that’s great. No judgement.
Funerals have never been my cup of tea. Everybody stands around and the dead person is on display and people touch the corpse. Not my thing. I don’t mind offering my support to the family and paying my respect for the dead.
As I get older, death becomes a more prominent event in my life. I see people that I care about aging and with COVID, mortality rates are high.
Death is not once what I thought it was. Elusive. It’s not. My mortality gets closer with every day that passes. I don’t like to think about it. It depresses me and I have enough of that without any help.
Going through the process of hospice with my grandfather has caused me to view death through a different lens. A nurse at hospice told me that death is a process like birth. I had never been around someone who was dying. On tv, they close their eyes, and it’s over. Reality is different. It’s harsh.
I won’t go into the gruesome details. Hospice is a blessing and the centers around here are filled with wonderful people. As sad as it is, they keep it respectful and clean and treat everyone there with respect.
I sometimes feel that I would be a good chaplain. I’m stoic and I think I would be a good person to lean on. The call of seminary comes and goes with me and if money were no object I would get that degree.
If I had the time and if the world wasn’t in a pandemic, I would love to work at hospice. Put my administrative skills to use or something along those lines. I think maybe then death and I would be on speaking terms.
For now, death will have to watch me from the shadows, I hope for a while longer. I know our game of hide and seek will ultimately come to an end.
