Whispers from the Grave

Well down the path of the living.

6:51 am... Have you ever been out somewhere and you think you see someone you know? Perhaps you think it's an ex-coworker or a casual acquaintance that you lost touch with years ago? But it turns out that it isn't? Maybe they just looked kinda like them, or had some of their mannerisms? Even though it wasn't them, now that person is on your mind, so you start thinking about them. I'm fairly certain this happens to all of us from time to time.

Then there's the flip side of this event - when you haven't thought about a person in years, and then you find out that they died. Maybe it just happened, or maybe it happened years ago, but you just find out about it. It kinda freaks you out a little bit, maybe a lot. Even though you aren't really deeply connected with them, the fact that they have been removed from your reality causes shock waves in your mind. Again, we all experience this in our lives at some point.

But, there is another, not dissimilar, event which is an odd combination of the two. It has begun to happen to me recently, and has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I'm over 40 now, and with that achievement comes a certain heightened awareness of death. It is sometimes subtle, frequently pointed and nearly always uncomfortable. Let me describe this "event" which has sprung up in recent months. As with the first case above, I am going about my business and, for whatever reason, someone that I haven't seen in years pops into my head. Typically my first thought about that person would be "I wonder how they're doing." Pretty standard, right? Well, several times now my first thought has evolved into "I wonder if they're still alive?" Now, admittedly, the times that it has happened were when I was thinking of someone a good 20-30 years older than myself. But, it is disconcerting to feel death whispering in my ear these days... Stay safe, enjoy life... 7:04 am...