Adventures with Teresa

Brushes With Death August 4, 2009

I’ve had 2 brushes with death in the last 24 hours.

On the way home from work today, I saw a fox. It wasn’t the way I usually see this fox — scampering along the side of the highway, its glowing eyes bouncing up and down in the faint twilight — it was dead. It must have been crossing the road at the same time a vehicle was speeding by… It was right in the middle of the lane, and I had to swerve to avoid running over it. A moment’s hesitation. I hit the brakes and decided to go back and drag it off the road. I didn’t slam on the brakes, so I had a little bit of walking to do. A little time to think.
Why did I swerve? Why didn’t I want to run over the little critter? Is it because I feel an affinity for him, having seen him trotting along the highway so many times? But even then, why go back to drag him off the road? Why not just leave him — it wasn’t like he was large enough to damage another vehicle like a deer or moose would — you have to drag them off the road so another car or truck doesn’t get trashed by hitting the carcass. But this was just a small fox; so what if the next car didn’t swerve, and run over him again? Ah, that’s it — I couldn’t stand the thought of him being run over again and again. Nobody should have to endure that. Which is silly in a way, isn’t it? I mean, he’s dead, and he’s a fox, for pete’s sake, just road kill. Or not. I wanted to have a little funeral for him, make sure his little fox spirit went peacefully on. I can’t stand the thought of ravens eating him… even though it’s the cycle of life, I know. But the cycle of life, nature, doesn’t include cars, so I felt I had to intervene. Why shouldn’t I respect a little fox and wish for him to be buried? To respect people and cherish them but disrespect other living things is hypocrisy. It isn’t living true to what you supposedly believe.
I heard recently that we tend to form beliefs about things we haven’t experienced. That’s why you don’t have beliefs about your pinky finger, or your front door. You experience them all the time, and so no beliefs are needed. But with many non-physical things, like philosophies & religions, we make up beliefs to try and make something more real, to give us something to grab on to. (If you have a lot of strongly held beliefs, it could be because those things aren’t very real to you.) Which is why we have so many beliefs about death — it’s the ultimate thing we can’t really experience.

“Well, at least he didn’t suffer,” some people say at some funerals.
“Oh, death must have been a welcome relief,” is also commonly said at others.
“We know he’s gone on to a better place,” might be heard, or
“If only we knew if he had accepted Jesus.”
“At least you still have two children left.”  Can you believe people actually say that!?!
Most, if not all, of the above statements are based on beliefs, and when said to the grieving family, they are complete fluff and even hurtful. Does the mourning husband feel “a welcome relief” that his wife is gone? Maybe, but maybe not. He’s feeling an intense loss, probably not relief. And let’s not yatter on about the person’s eternal condition — heaven and such — while ignoring the condition of those in front of us. Instead, offer your sincerest condolences and help to the survivors.

A couple of months back, I took a death notification course. Many things that you might think to say are not helpful and can be quite harmful to the people who’ve just lost their loved one. The training was about sudden deaths, but I don’t think it’s very different with inevitable deaths. The most important things to remember, should you ever be involved in a death notification is to go in person, with no agenda, (i.e. no deadlines about how long to be there) and be with the mourning person. You don’t have to say much, just be with them. They might have questions about how their loved one died, and if you can answer them, do so factually. Accept all emotions that come out — theirs and yours — without judging them. There’s so much more to doing a death notification, which I won’t go into now, but if you have a chance to take a course, do it. The one I took was offered by MADD Canada, and was presented by a retired police officer. If you’re interested, I could do a whole blog about this (leave a comment).

The second brush with death was with my husband last night. I don’t think he was actually close to death, but I was very close to calling 9-1-1, and that’s a stressful situation to be in. He was having extreme pain, having difficulty breathing, and I couldn’t quite rule out a heart attack (his father died of a heart attack several years ago), so I was going to call for an ambulance. However, the pain passed and the cause was not heart-related, but in the heat of the moment, with the shrieks of pain he was making, I didn’t know what was happening.
As a result, we had a sweet time of appreciating each other last night — I was glad he was okay, he was glad I had helped him through it (although I didn’t do much). There’s nothing like a brush with death to bring two people closer, and it’s a bit of a shame that’s what it takes.

Why do we fuss so much with how we die? If a person died as road kill, it would be unspeakably awful! We talk a lot about dying with dignity, dying with loved ones around, having some control over pain medication when death is near. Why don’t we concern ourselves as much with how we live? Speak of living with dignity and integrity, having loved ones around, not complaining about a bit of pain we have as part of life. We waste so much energy complaining! I wonder what would happen if we replaced every complaint with a thought focused on gratitude and love?

Just some things to think about.