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The worst cliche
A few years ago my wife and I participated in a hiking tour of Croatia. There were about 15 hikers on the tour. It was a fabulous vacation. The most memorable moment for me was when we were hiking up a steep mountain to visit an ancient monastery. Most of our group were younger and more fit than I was. As we struggled up a muddy trail in a very steamy mist that intensified the sting of sweat dripping into our eyes, we paused to take a breath on a bridge overlooking a boisterous stream. We were all too fatigued for conversation. I took that moment to declare unequivocally that if I die on this hike I do not want anyone at my funeral to say I died doing what I enjoyed.
Saying that someone died doing what they enjoyed is using the cruelest cliche of all.
Published in General, Travel
Lol funny! Not for you, of course.
But… if you didn’t enjoy it, why even do it?
That is a question I ask myself about something every day.
Maybe the most someone should say is, “At least he didn’t die while doing something he hated.”
I’d really hate dying.
Interesting. I’m looking forward to it.
Interesting that you make that observation and comment.
I always assumed it was a positive.
Now you have made me reflect…
I had a friend who’s passion was riding horses and participating in medieval games. He died because his spear somehow spun up and pierced his heart.
His friends were fairly unanimous in declaring “he died doing something he loved”.
I wonder if all of the friends and relatives of those deceased while attempting to climb Everest say the same…
I’m sure we can think of crueler ones than that.
I have been told that should be the proper attitude but I haven’t reached that point in my maturity.
I love breathing the most. I guess I’d stop doing what I loved.
I dunno, having a pulse is right up there.
Not sure I could die from watching a sunrise.
I could joke that if my son died in his sleep, he would’ve died doing the thing he loved most…
That’s a fascinatingly ambiguous statement. Do you mean you are looking forward to your own death or to Barfly’s death?
But, Nelson Rockefeller . . .
Jimmy loved being a commercial pilot. He died doing what he loved. His passengers, on the other hand . . .
There are so many stories one can think of.
Don Imus made that story a regular feature of his schtick. It still brings me a smile.
Glad to brighten your day.
If I am dead, I don’t much care what people say to make them feel better, I suppose.
Still the whole “Lost the battle with cancer” thing bugs me.
Dying is the natural end of being alive. Dying is not losing. Part of the sickness of modern times.
And it’s always their “brave battle with cancer.” Many years ago, The Onion had a piece on someone losing his cowardly battle with cancer.
Then there’s the old joke:
“I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming like the passengers in his car.”
“Doing something he loved.” Perhaps someone will die at his keyboard, getting ready to hit the “comment” button and thus add to the witty reparte that draws so many of us to Ricochet.
I just want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car!
How people die and what other people think about it can be very interesting. In Boswell’s Life of Johnson they consider what might happen to a very good man who dies committing a sin. Unfortunately they don’t consider whether he was enjoying it or not.
I happened to be in Washington, DC almost exactly three years ago, just after US forces had evacuated Kabul, so I went to the US Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima statue) to pay my respects. Lovingly placed around the huge statue were little personal displays honoring some of the Marines killed in action only a few days before. One of the displays was in memory of Marine Corps Sgt Nicole L. Gee.
According to NPR, just days before her death, Gee posted a picture on Instagram of herself in uniform holding an Afghan baby with the caption, “I love my job.”
I believe she did. And I’m glad to know it.