Death is Always in the Mix

The Question that I remember most from this Death Q & A was about Denial. Not someone dying and in denial about it. Someone dying and their mother in denial about it.

Before it came up, someone else spoke first, and not with a question. A woman from UK in her forties was treated for cancer five years ago and has been in remission ever since. She wanted to tell people how it changed her life in good ways, being more appreciative and less anxious about things that don’t matter.

I had introduced the event, as I do every week, by saying this is a time and a place where it is OK to talk about Death. She said this is what she wanted to talk about. Usually people don’t like it when she brings it up even if she intends to be positive about it. She saw her chance with us and took it.

Then the question I’ll remember came from someone standing next to her. She said her niece is dying and her sister, her niece’s mother has closed herself off to it.

She told us her niece is close to the end, according to doctors. But when she speaks to her sister about it, everything is fine, her daughter will be all better soon.

How can I break through that wall and help?

I think about Denial a lot and I notice it everywhere. I see it in myself. And while I was getting ready to reply, the woman from…