Originally Posted by
teeth_of_the_hydra
I've been thinking a lot about life after death lately because of my uncle's recent departure. The day of his death, his wife-- who was very a faithful, churchgoing, dedicated Christian-- erased what the nurses had written on his "Goals" board (a whiteboard which displayed a rough outline of his daily treatment/ palliative regimen) and she just scribbled, "HEAVEN!" And once everyone was assembled... my mom (his sister), his daughter, his wife, his old friend, me... he flatlined....
This of course doesn't mean anything in particular about life after death, but it made me think about the conscious control that one might have over their own death. And this must have had-- in my uncle's case anyway-- something to do with what he thought would happen. They seemed so sure, he and my aunt, that heaven was real, it was a tangible place where his parents lived, where his war buddies hung out, where he'd get to go hunting and fishing all day, where no one had cancer.
Anyway, it was a thought-provoking experience for me. I have no conclusions of course but it's been a comforting thing to think about this past week.