A good friend’s father passed away yesterday at the well-lived age of 90.  Ever since her mom’s passing a couple of years ago her father has been “ready to leave this mortal coil.”  He was a good kind man who was loved very much by his daughter and their family. I will always remember her birthday party from a handful of years ago when her Dad and significant other conspired to create a birdhouse painting party. Her father made several simple yet lovely birdhouses for the party participants to decorate and paint which my friend then hung all throughout their xeriscaped gardens.

Out of respect and general agreement for her father’s wishes there will be no funeral or memorial service.  Somehow this makes me feel a little bit closer to her Dad because although he was such a gentle soul he was also a practical soul and after seeing what his family went through with his wife’s passing he did not want to impose more on them then absolutely necessary with his passing.  Sure, if they want to have a remembrance of him during the burgeoning and budding of spring in their garden with the swapping of stories full of wisdom and humor that was fine with him but nothing that cost them money or angst.

Thought for the Day:  Since birthing, dying and death are all part of the process of life why not discuss these things when we’re coherent and can get clarity about what we think and believe with each other before a stressful experience.  There’s nothing as gratifying for loved ones who are in mourning as the ease of finding important documents and the clear understanding of your wishes to say the least about having faced, embraced, discarded or amended core beliefs well before the end.

Helpful Hint for Being Human: We ALL experience being born, living and dying so why shy away from what the here and now and what the great beyond means to us now? There is, after all, no time like the present.