HW 19 - Family Perspectives on Illness & Dying

When I saw this assignment I decided to go interview my dad first.  The reason I thought to interview him first was because he has had a lot people close to him pass away so I thought he would have a lot interesting things to say.  When I asked my dad if he was afraid to die he said that like me he used to be but then as he lived his life he said that he came more to terms with the fact that dying is the price you have to pay to live.  He does have very strong opinions on people dying though.  Since so many of his good friends died at such young ages my dad thinks that death is a very unfair thing.  He believes that people who have only done good and done what they could to benefit others should not die at such a young age.  But the people who are selfish and do the wrong thing a lot should be the ones in that position.  I agree completely with that, it is not fair for someone who has tried to do good all their life to get it all taken away from them for no reason.

When I went and talk to my mom her answers were similar to my dads but different at the same time.  Unlike my dad my mom hasn't had as much experience with death but when she has it hurt her terribly.  When I asked her what was the worst experience with death she had she told me it was when her father died.  My mother and her mother didn't have the best relationship but she had an amazing relationship with her dad.  She said that when she lost her dad the sadness went on for a while and she still thinks about him all the time.  This made me think because my biggest fear is losing my parents.  I just don't know what I would do with out them.  My mom felt the same way about losing her father, she said that you get used to not having them around but you never get rid of the feeling of wanting to see them or hear their voice one more time.

In concussion both me and my parents do have very similar views about death.  I feel that they influenced me a great deal with my views of death.  In my interviews there were very few things that I was surprised about in terms of their views on the topic.  Since they have always taught me to cherish my loved ones that really impacts how I feel about losing loved ones.  This just goes to show you that your parents have a really big impact on how you view life and death even if you don't think that they do.  It also shows that you really don't know how good something is until its gone from your life.