So many cute witches, goblins and lady bug superheroes fill the streets, walking and chattering happily in between houses festooned with — giant skeletons! grave markers! hands reaching up from the grave to grab us!

A recent Wall Street Journal article bemoans Halloween as an “industrial cartoon death cult” and I agree that by displaying the ghoulish and macabre on your front lawn death becomes more comic and somehow less real. The journalist’s point – death is no laughing matter. And how can terrifying children be considered fun?

But I think we should use Halloween as a conversation starter.

No matter who we are, where we are from or what we do, we face one inescapable reality in life –death.”

-Joan S. Grey GOOD GOODBYES

Let’s use this time to acknowledge the reality of death. And openly discuss the very real certainty that we, and our loved ones will all eventually die, so we must be prepared.

“Nothing is certain except death and taxes.”

Benjamin Franklin

No one ever wants to talk about this! Of course not. Death is a subject that arouses too many negative feelings, the worst, of course, being fear.

Aversion to sadness and death predominates our culture. But since we are already hosting ghosts at our parties, maybe, without being maudlin, we can open ourselves to exploring the topic a bit. My friend Joan wrote a book she unofficially dubbed “Dying for Dummies” to make this resource she created on a tabu subject user friendly and accessible. Check out the wholistic approach that Joan lived: Good Goodbyes: A Mortal’s Guide to Life. All the proceeds go to the West Point Women’s Association charity.

© Jane F. Collen  October 30, 2023 IndexCardCure.com™ get into the spirit!