The Finishing Touch

I can remember reading a book about a man that had lived for many generations and just wanted to die a quiet death. He wasn’t allowed to of course, that wouldn’t be good for the plot. He had done everything he had wanted to do with his life and had no interest in doing the same things over and over again.

At the time I couldn’t understand that attitude, I wanted to live forever. I can remember wondering how my grandmother could be so calm and matter of fact when someone that she knew passed away. It just didn’t make any sense.

Fast forward forty years or so and things are beginning to clear up. Now, I have no interest in living forever, not because I have done everything, but because the things I have done I am content with and those things that are undone are that way for a reason. Perhaps they were silly or based more on wishes than possibilities. Some of the dreams I once had don’t seem to be so dream like any longer. Times change and so do your perceptions.

I understand gram’s attitude a lot easier now than when I was a kid. People live their lives and die. I have seen it, and in many instances death is a blessing. Most people that have passed that I have known, would more than likely have chosen to live just a while longer, so that they might put the finishing touches on their life.

A friend passed yesterday. I haven’t seen him or even talked for a number of years, but I still consider him a friend. He will be missed. His family will be devastated; his good friends will be as well, acquaintances and work friends will think of the fun times Bob gave us. We all touch many lives while we are on our journey through life, hopefully in a positive way, but any way has an effect.

I know that Bob will leave a hole that will not easily be filled. He more than likely left some things unsaid and some things undone. There are likely some “I love yous” that could have been said. More than likely there should have been some “I’m sorrys” spread around. If Bob was anything like me the last lucid moments would be filled with should haves and could haves.

Maybe at the end we don’t worry about those things, but somehow all of the good we did in this live is relived. The people we have helped on their journey through life and the happiness and laughter we have added to the world. That’s what I choose to think.

I guess the finishing touch to life is death. Safe travels Bob…