Great post! Death and the recognition of mortality gives us all pause. I know, for a fact, that I have not mourned the deaths of several family members and friends in any type of conventional way, but collective grief somehow feels so much easier, and to me, less painful, but still deeply felt. Denial is so much easier to cope with when it’s friend, loved one, or family, it makes me wonder, just in a physical sense, what it does to our mental health. Artists of all types have struggled through the ages to come to grips with death and it’s aftermath to those left behind. To this day, we still must try to cope with the weight of tragic loss, confusion, emptiness, and the stages of mourning, what ever they really are.

Last week I just happened to catch a documentary about the band Kansas, and I really don’t know why, but it was the first time I heard:

Don’t hang on

Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky

It slips away

And all your money won’t another moment buy

We’re dust in the wind

Now, those of us left behind, all we need to do is find a way to go on.