Hi gims..from the reaper there are quite a few wonderful movies, mostly brittish, where the reaper is usually a slightly comic figure, but nevertheless inevitable in that he does..bring death or the end...no matter how lovebable he is.

I certainly DO NOT look upon death as a reward..it is simply a fact to life..like being born is also a fact of life. There is a beginning and an end. I am not looking forward to it yet..but I know it´s there. And this gives me perspective in my life..especially now that I am 60 and still here. Some things fall by the wayside now because I know that time is running short..as it always has actually. Because you never know when death or the end will come. There are no guarantees!

Like you, Hannelore, I don´t believe in a judgemental afterlife. I find this cruel..and unrealistic. BUT that is just MY view..and since I don´t know anything for sure..except that death will come..I respect all other thoughts on the subject. coming from a former catholic and new churchwoman (swedenborg)

Like you, Hannelore, I hope that I can shorten my suffering..if that should come..as I don´t want to have unnecessary pain or perhaps the feeling of being "gone" within my own skin and mind. I have put down 2 dogs in my life time (with help)..so why shouldn´t someone or I, myself, extend the same courtesy and respect to myself?

I kind of think that I will be recycled after my death..ash to ashes, if you will. I will return to the earth and give it a tiny tiny bit of nourishment..and so goes on the circle of life..if you understand what I mean,gims?

The fact of death makes my time here very significant..for me. I want to do what I think is important at the moment and give as much as I can..and perhaps at times..give even more than I think I can. Death makes me grateful for everything I have been able to experience up to now..and I hope that just by being "me"..I might be able to pass on some of the gifts life has brought me, to my grandchildren..which are the continuation in my circle of life..not line of life..but circle of life. VERY IMPORTANT!! Life is cycles..not a linear prospect (in my view)..

Gims..if you are thinking alot about death and things around it..you are actually thinking of life..if you flip to the otherside of your thoughts. Watch the movie" Riding the Bullet" by Steven King..I recommend it highly in context of your thread here.BUT it IS a Steven King film..so you have got to be able to take his eay of expressing his thoughts..and you have to stick it out to the end..should you decide to watch it.

It is in dying that we are reborn, it is said..perhaps you are facing death head on in your thoughts at the moment..to be able to LIVE more fully when you come out on the other end??? As you know, my daughter died when she was 11..her passing..her end..has given my life many many more color spectrums in my life. And her own short life..she lived on so many simultaneous levels that I have no capability of experiencing..at least not up to now. She is still a very real part of our family..even among my grandchildren and my youngest son, 18 now..who never knew her. But she has opened doors for all of us that otherwise would have been shut..she has opened parts of our humanity that I believe our ancestors had..a long time ago..a sensitivity to others and a communication on a totally different level than just verbally...

Ok gims..that´s all she wrote and I am not going to correct this post either..so I hope you (and my other friends here on the forum that visit this thread) will understand what "she wrote"

P.S. Gotta admit to you that I am drinking wine mixed with water here..cause this is heavy stuff in one way..but it´s all about life really!!!