This week, a 14 year-old girl who died of cancer, won a legal battle to have her body frozen. This is part of a process called cryonics, which tries to stop the decaying process, by freezing the body at it is at the point of death. It’s a heart-breaking situation; for a 14 year old who has to consider her own death; and for those left behind. In a letter to the court, she wrote this: “I have been asked to explain why I want this …Read More
I can’t stop thinking about the plane that went down. About the pilot. Depressed? Stressed? Crazy? Evil? Someone to be pitied? A victim – or a psychopath? A suicide – or a massacre? About his parents. Mourning with the other families. Travelling with them to the site. Shared sympathy. A fault in the aircraft? A freak accident? “He did his best to save them. We’re all in the same situation.” But then, the discovery. Two people are separated from the group …Read More
When I take funerals, I’ll occasionally say these words at the graveside – they’ve been made famous by the old Book of Common Prayer: Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. They are words from Job 14 communicating the brevity of life. We’re like cut …Read More
When we, or those we love are struggling, the journey from cradle to grave can seem all too brief. At those times we see death as he is – an intruder that, heavy-handed, smashes into our homes and hearts. But day to day, perhaps our strategy is a little less subtle. If you’re like me, you’ll try to ignore death and with everything you’ve got. You’ll tiptoe round him and dance like this is all there is and nothing can …Read More
‘Yes, but not too much‘, Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg, in response to his wife’s question: ‘Shall I bake some fried potatoes?’ (he died of a heart attack). ‘Don’t let me die like this, say I said something’. Emiliano Zapata), Mexican revolutionary during the Mexican Revolution. ‘The best of all is: God is with us’. John Wesley. ‘Am I dying, or is this my birthday?’ Lady Nancy Astor. Die, my dear doctor, that’s the last thing I shall do!’ Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount …Read More
When did Halloween become so HUGE? Seriously, you can’t step outside the house without being accosted by some sort of ghoul or smothered in cobwebs.. (Actually wait – that’s inside the house – note to self, must dust. ( Next Year Job.) Nor is there one unifying theme. Marks + Spencers, normally the bastion of shortbread and cosy respectability, seem particularly conflicted. Exhibit A – enormous chocolate halloween eggs, priced at £18.99. Look, I like chocolate as much as the next person. But at that …Read More
‘No-one wants to die…time is limited, so don’t waste it’. Those were the words of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who died yesterday at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer. But what does this mean in practice? Born in San Francisco, Jobs spent just one term at college, before dropping out to go on a retreat to India. It was to fund this trip that he took his first computer job. In 1976, he founded Apple with Steve Wozniak. He left in …Read More
Still trying to take in the news from the last few days. Two people. Both of whom have left their mark on history– but for very different reasons. A twenty-seven year old girl. Beautiful, talented, insecure. A well-documented battle with drink, drugs, self-harm. Dead – possibly at her own hands. A thirty-two year old man. Good-looking, passionate, bright. An ‘ordinary guy’. A murderer who has blown up and shot nearly 100 people. What do we know of these people? With …Read More
