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neverspentBack in June, a flash flood killed at least 18 people when it swept through a campground not far from here. In addition to shock and sadness for the people who lost loved ones, I had some personal thoughts. But at the time, I feared it might seem disrespectful to post them, when searchers were still combing the river and woods for bodies, and the newspaper had just published a list of victims, including whole families and a lot of grandparents and small children.
These are my thoughts. I know tragedy is tragedy and in the end, natural disaster is the same as a manmade one, or an accident or anything else, at least for the victims. And in the midst of grief, for the families who have lost someone, there is no "good" death.
And I know we rarely get to choose how we die, so it's not practical to contemplate and rank possibilities. But I can say that if I could choose, given that we have to die sometime, I think I'd rather be killed by something I respected and loved all my life than by something I don't understand, my own body included. Nature, cradle to grave.
These are my thoughts. I know tragedy is tragedy and in the end, natural disaster is the same as a manmade one, or an accident or anything else, at least for the victims. And in the midst of grief, for the families who have lost someone, there is no "good" death.
And I know we rarely get to choose how we die, so it's not practical to contemplate and rank possibilities. But I can say that if I could choose, given that we have to die sometime, I think I'd rather be killed by something I respected and loved all my life than by something I don't understand, my own body included. Nature, cradle to grave.