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Mortality Stalks Me

Jim Parton
5 min readSep 23, 2022

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Photo by Roméo A. on Unsplash

We always think we have more time. For most of our lives, we ignore our mortality. We make plans far into the future. That future is always in the distance. None of us believe that day will come for us. When confronted with a funeral of a loved one or friend we take only a brief and sideways glance at our own eventual death. We then quickly get back to our own “to-do” list and our daily routines, pushing death once again behind that curtain of uncertainties in our minds.

Working in the Death Industry for over a decade now caused me to take a hard look at my own mortality. I work as an “AfterCare Specialist.” I contact families that have used the services of the large funeral home complex where my work is done and ask questions about their experience of making arrangements for their loved ones with us. I also talk with them about their loved ones. We have conversations about what events took place as death approached, how they coped then, and how they are coping now. Our company very generously sends a very good Grief package including a book by a nationally acclaimed grief author after I have contacted them a few weeks after the funeral or burial.

Living through the HIV-AIDS pandemic in the 80s and 90s was a stark reminder that death and illness are not far from us on any given day. Death and illness do not consider your worth to others. Your contribution to your family or…

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Jim Parton
Jim Parton

Written by Jim Parton

Retired Teacher and Death Care worker. The gay and married dad of three grown children. I have always been fascinated by the human condition. Come read with me.

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