GRAND Magazine - Winter 2024 - 32

grandparenting
Is death a subject we deal with only when we have
to? Or is it a reality that we should become comfortable
thinking about and something we should be
talking about with our children and grandchildren?
One of our sons, who did his graduate work in positive
psychology at U. Penn, feels that there are important
benefits that come from making death a more open
subject in our families-and that doing so not only
prepares us and those we love for the inevitable, but
adds to our appreciation, our awareness, and our unity.
In trying to capture some of these benefits and
focus on the joy that has filtered through the pain of
this past month, we decided to frame it in the form of
a poem, which we hope may prompt some new textures
in your thinking:
20 Reasons to think (and talk)
more about death
We don't like thoughts
of death
In general,
Of friends,
And particularly not of
our own.
But
we should embrace what we banish.
Here are twenty reasons why:
One: It is the single
universal experience.
Two: It can come to any of us
at any time.
32 GRAND WINTER 2023
Three: Its awareness
sharpens our awareness.
Four: It counters
the sin of taking for granted.
Five: It's " last time " paradigm
enhances gratitude.
Six: It separates what is minutia
From what matters.
Seven: It deepens conversation
and relationships.
Eight: It reminds us that all this beauty
is fragile, finite, and fleeting.
Nine: It delineates the now-time here
from the non-time there.
Ten: It catalyzes love-
expanding, extending, elongating.
Eleven: It stimulates ponderings
about God and Heaven.
Twelve: It connects us
to those who are there.
Thirteen: It opens up wider,
longer,
deeper awareness and
perspective.
Fourteen: It confirms
Grandchildren as our legacy.
Fifteen: It spurs a seeking
of destiny and purpose.
Sixteen: It prompts genuine
re-evaluation and repentance.
Seventeen: It brings an appreciative form
of humility.
Eighteen: It suggests that we don't
really start here
or end here.
Nineteen: It reminds us of how much remains
of those who depart.
Twenty: It helps us see
our spiritual siblings.
All good things are made better
by anticipation,
And death, in God's time, is a good thing.
Richard and Linda Eyre's parenting
and life-balance books have reached
millions and been translated into a
dozen languages. As fellow Baby
Boomers, their passion and their
writing focus has now shifted to
the joy of Grandparenting. Linda's
latest book is Grandmothering,
Richard's is Being a Proactive
grandfather, and their latest coauthored
book is Life in Full.

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GRAND Magazine - Winter 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - Winter 2024