9: Death

Kulber-Ross identified 5 stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It seems we forget what death is until we face it; either our own death or someone else’s. Death is unfair. It could prey on the weak or strong, on the young or old…death has no limits. I now understand why the Israel nation was so set on finding Eden. They were given life—everlasting life—until that life was taken from them and replaced with death. We know that death exists, but we don’t think about it until it comes time to deal with it. We go through the five stages until we come to terms with acceptance. My question is what happens after acceptance? Do we move on? Do we forget? In truth, we’re changed spiritually…our mind and emotions take a turn and we’re tested from the inside out. We’re often told that time heals; even though time does make it easier, the scar will always be there. We'll always remember our first patient who died and we'll remember our first patient who kicked chemo! It's important to think of the positives and its important to remember the negatives; however, we are not allow to have death control our lives.