I have entered The Death Phase

[cjsmith]

In families with evenly-spaced generations, sometimes there are phases: a bunch of marriages for a while, a bunch of births for a while, a bunch of deaths all closely spaced.

I have entered the Death Phase. Just lost another one last night.

I have currently lost track of how many and exactly which of my extended family has died in the last year. I am hoping to avoid seriously embarrassing myself next time I meet anyone who was close to those people. Being two thousand miles from most of them, and having been a thousand miles away all during the time I was growing up, makes it a little tough to remember. My parents are getting hit hard though. They grew up with these folks. They're taking round-trips west for funerals and it's like watching the ball at a tennis match.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I really haven't had to face this, much. Up till this year I've lost more square dancing friends than aged relatives. (Well, okay: the square dancing community is not generally a young bunch.) One disturbing thing is I don't even know these people. I'm not very close to my extended family, and at times like this I have the vague sense that somehow I "should" be.