Tuesday, January 08, 2019

The Angel of Death Returns


The metaphorical angel of death, which last month descended onto our community and took our neighbor, has returned for our neighbor's widow.

It's almost as if she died of a broken heart.  She lost her husband shortly before Christmas, and then, just after New Year's Day, had a stroke and passed away this morning.

She either died of a broken heart, or simply decided at some subconscious level that she wasn't going to be left behind.

Very sad and very strange.  Impermanence is swift; life-and-death is the great matter.  What was here today is gone tomorrow. We do not need philosophical or metaphysical explanations to accept this - the evidence is right before our eyes. 

The way of the world -
Lost in the dead of winter
The last leaves of fall. 
- Tanehiko (d., 1842)

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