Flowers of the forest

       Most of us lament our dead.

            Usually it is our ancestors who die before us.

            Sometimes it is the young, including our Family and Friends. And sometime it is our pets, who have often become Family members in their own way.

            I myself have had both parents die, and a younger brother die early. So I think I know the drill, and the feelings and laments. I am now age 64, so I will also die sooner rather than later, and accept that. That's just normal, in my mind.

            Even in my earlier times, like around the 7th grade I had a friend of similar age die of leukemia circa the early 1960's. I still imagine he missed things like Vietnam, and all the ensuing things, like even today's problems.

            And even today, I have a favorite Family pet dying of old age, but I am more inured to it, like I expected it eventually. Still I lament this dog's fine life coming to an end on this earth. She was a loyal dog, who will be buried on the land she loved so much.

            So will I, I hope.

            But while I am alive, I will still act like a human, and fight for the things I think are important to me, and my Family and Friends, and even pets. Some even call it a way of life.

            And I have done it before, when I had to.