On Death

As I write this post, a man I knew as a handsome little boy is in his last hours of fighting a tumor that has taken up residence in his brain.

He will leave behind a frightened, uncertain wife and two small daughters, and her posts updating his status on Care Pages are gut wrenching.

I haven't seen him since he was about 10 years old, but I'm mourning his passing right now, along with the rest of his friends and family. This wasn't in the plan anyone who knew him had for his life and it sucks and I'm heartbroken for everyone involved.

The strange thing is that I would never have known about his struggles at all if it hadn't been for the Internet. The web connects us and makes this vast world a village again. The Internet has brought me to more than a few virtual bedsides of men, women and children who are staring death in the face. I have thought about death and dying more since starting to read blogs four years ago than I ever have before. And I'm guessing many of you feel the same way, particularly since the Internet has given us a glut of news recently about the deaths of some major celebrities.

I take a slightly more lighthearted look at our obsession with death and dying, particularly when it comes to celebrities, in this week's newspaper edition of Suburban Turmoil. Be sure and check it out. Comment over there with your URL and I'll stop by your blog for a visit. I'd like to know, either here or over there, if the Internet is changing your perceptions about death. Is it on your mind more than it was before you had access to so many personal stories? How are you dealing with the inevitability of death? And since we're all going to die eventually, why are we all so afraid to talk about it?

Tell me what you think.

Also, on a totally unrelated note, Newsweek picked up on the "Mommyblogging is no longer a radical act" debate and actually quoted this blog! Check it out if you get a chance.