Too Much Death

Strange past few days. Outside of being completely buried in work, which has pretty much been consuming my life, I’ve had to once again deal with death. I finished watching the final season of Six Feet Under. Little did I know how timely it would be and for that reason it struck me to the core. Laura’s step-father suddenly and very unexpectedly passed away very early on Sunday morning. Without going into a lot of detail, he had been in the hospital for a separate, completely voluntary operation. He came out of it fine and as of last Thursday was walking, talking and ready to be released on Saturday. By Friday evening he had developed pneumonia and in less than 24 hours was on life support. He died in a coma at 2:00 AM on Sunday. This really is only the second person I knew that died so suddenly, with my Grandfather being the first. Everyone else in my life seemed to go expectedly because of whatever ailment he/she had leading up to it. Because of this, it was a little unnerving to go to his home and see how unprepared he was to end his life. He was a great woodworker and made some really incredible stuff. His niece has a young daughter. Jack was just about finished with a doll house he had made for her. Just a few furniture pieces left unpainted and the front door unattached. I spent a good part of yesterday trying to figure out just how his computer was set up since he for some unknown reason had tons of back-ups, including battery power should the electricity be out, connected to his system. I was in his bedroom trying to coax his cat from under his bed. She is hiding herself away; I think she senses something is wrong. Right next to the TV armoire is a pair of his shoes, almost just waiting for him to step into and use. Watching the aftermath of the demise of an integral part of a family struggle and try and make sense of death was a little spooky. The end of the Six Feet Under series was especially disturbing but at the same time comforting. Looking around the house where Jack and Laura’s Mom live, on the surface looks as though there is nothing ‘off’. I expect the grieving process will strike everyone at some point. I think right now everyone is in shock though, including me. I can’t say that Jack was well-liked by a lot of Laura’s family but he and I always got along. I’ll miss seeing his wise-cracking Republican t-shirts and hearing about some great website he discovered. Needless to say I’m exhausted and could barely stay awake at work today while I ran about a billion reports back to back. Still as my eyelids get heavier, I hope that all is going to be fine with Laura’s Mother. It’s going to be a big adjustment being without the person who’s been by your side for over 20 years.