Why is it that the subject of death is such a forbidden topic in modern Western society? Although our cultural media (television, movies, video games, etc) depict an endless stream of violence and death, no one ever talks about the "real death".
At a recent workshop, a courageous mother shared the story of her dying daughter. The daughter is being forced to face her own mortality and is looking for someone to talk with about this last part of her earthly journey. She has simple, yet "difficult" questions about the subject. For instance, she wants to know what will happen to her body when it gets to the funeral home. At the workshop (where we face death head-on) the mother was expressing her frustration at the fact that our society just doesn't deal very well with the subject of death.
I often wondered when and how I would introduce my children to the subject. I don't want their first exposure to be the death of a loved-one - I would prefer that they are able to ease into the concept without the emotional trauma that can be caused by experiencing a loss. They are still quite young (our son is almost four years old and our daughter will be 8 months old next weekend) so I figured that I would just wait for the right moment to present itself. For our son, that moment came not long ago.
We were driving past a cemetery and he asked us "What's that place?" My wife held her breath and looked at me. I smiled and thought about my answer for a little while. Here's what I told him: "When people die, they are finished using their bodies. When we're done with our bodies and we don't need them anymore, we can't just put them out at the curb with the garbage. So some people choose to have their bodies put in the ground in a place called a cemetary. Those stones are like signs telling us who used to use each of the bodies. "
That answer seemed to satisfy him and it didn't cause any further questions.
Then a few days later he couldn't find his favorite teddy bear. He came to us and said that he had looked all over and it was no where to be found. "I think he must have died," he said very seriously. If you've read my wife's blog, called "Life With Death", you can well imagine how thrilled she was to have the two men in her life having a discussion about the topic of death!
What about you? When do you think it is appropriate to introduce the topic of death? Or, would you prefer that death remain on the list of "taboo" subjects?
(By the way - we found the teddy bear, "alive and well", after a short search.)
ENJOY NOW!
Dolce Vita Magazine (www.dolcemag.com) reaches over 900,000 affluent readers annually thoughout household distribution in addition to being on sale on newsstands across Canada and at all Barnes & Noble stores in the United States. The Summer 2006 issue contains a review of Patrick's book "What's Your Expiry Date?" in their "Books That Inspire The Soul" section. Here is some of what they had to say...
"...a brisk read that will have you changing the way you value and live your life."
Also, in her opening letter from the editor, Michelle Zerillo-Sosa (Editor-in-Chief/Co-Founder) had this to say:
"What's Your Expiry Date?" by Patrick Mathieu is one of my favourite reads. This book will inspire you to embrace your mortality, value your life, and live with vitality..."
To get your copy of Patrick's book, visit this link.
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