Death or Glory?

R.I.P. Erik Namesnik
I apologize for not getting this up yesterday, but for those of us in the swimming community, it has been a sad past couple of days. Erik Namesnik made his name at the University of Michigan and won two silver medals in the 400 IM at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Like many former swimmers he moved into the coaching ranks and was establishing himself. The weather this past in Michigan was scary to say the least. Ice pretty much covered everything and this made driving extremely difficult. Namesnik was involved in a crash, was put on life support, and died yesterday. It's a tragic thing...

This leads me to something I've been thinking about for awhile: Death.
Not a particularly fun topic, but one that I'm not very familiar with. Here I am 27 years old and I have not lost anyone near and dear to me. I've been to very few wakes in my life (um...2?). The two family members I have lost (my grandfathers) died when I was very young -- I don't remember when my paternal grandfather died and my maternal grandfather died when I was, 7? 8? Certainly not at the age where I could comprehend what was going on. Some say I am lucky. Yeah, I am lucky that I haven't lost anyone yet. But it also scares me. I afraid I'm going to have no idea how to respond when someone does die. One of the unevitable truths to life is that we will die -- this is about the only thing we are guaranteed of. And the way I see it is that death is just a natural progression of life. I can be a pretty unemotional guy. Bad things happen and I have a tendency to say "oh well, that's life, that is what happens." I am deftly scared that when one of my close family members does die I will go on living like nothing has happened. I really see myself as someone who doesn't mourn until sometime after the fact when I realize what has happened.

I think about my own death. I'm one of those people who think (however statistically slim) that I could die every day -- from some freak accident, to food poisoning, to whatever. and you know what? This doesn't bother me. Seriously. I am quite happy with the way my life has turned out and when I day I can honestly say that I led a full and successful life. I also like the idea of the living funeral. I got this from when I read Tuesdays with Morrie and he had a living funeral where, before he died, he invited all his friends over to celebrate his life. And since I'm on the topic of death, when I do die, I don't want people mourning and crying and wearing black. I beg you and implore you that when I go, wear colors. Hawaiian prints. R.E.M. shirts. Come in skimpy running shorts, or Speedos even! Seriously. And I want you to play R.E.M. songs such as "It's the End of the World as We Know it (And I Feel Fine)"; not that sad stuff like Everybody Hurts, cause that song just sucks. Funerals should be about celebrating what that person was, what they embodied, and everything that person stood for. You may think I'm joking or being facetious here, but no. This is how I feel. Funerals should be about celebrations and not mourning.