I know life is terminal

But too often this fall I've heard of friends or acquaintances who have died.

It started with a couple whom I used to go to the movies with in Perpignan who had moved California. It was sudden. A collapse on the floor leaving her husband devastated. An email with the subject line "horrible news" was a warning of the contents.

I understand neighbour Janette's death at 103. 

Then there was the mother of the-brother-I-always-wanted who died. I'd spent time with her in Môtiers and we had a Christmas card relationship. She was in a prison camp in WWII. Age made her death normal.

My cousin, who had not been well for years, also gave up the fight.

Then today on Facebook the  wife of a former vendor and later boss who is younger than I am. Not a friend but a memory of a woman rushing into the office between her work and juggling her family, something as a single mom I could identify with.

On a less personal level there was Robin Williams.

Maybe because I had a brush with cancer that reminded me of my own mortality combined with how happy I am and how wonderful my life is, that I don't want it to end. It is not fear.

I know that death is even surer than taxes, and with age it is normal to lose friends, but I DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT!