During my grandmother's funeral, the preacher recounted many events from her life. Surprisingly, I learned many things I didn't know about her. I heard stories about when she was a child, which was something I had never thought about. Although I was quite aware of her age, I had never considered the fact that she and my grandfather had lived through the Depression. My grandmother also spent over twenty-five years in the landscaping business with no education or training since women were expected to be housewives in her earlier years. All of these things were incredibly overwhelming at the time and still astound me. I am only nineteen and have barely made it out of grade school. Considering that my grandmother's accomplishments easily outnumber my accomplishments, it is understandable why her death is more acceptable than my own. Age undoubtedly affects our idea of a "good death." The death of a younger person is often viewed as a tragedy. However, the death of an elder person is usually considered to be a natural occurrence.
Why do we feel that dying at an earlier age is so unfortunate? We do not usually associate terminal illnesses with younger generations. Unfortunately, illnesses like AIDS and various types of cancer often select younger victims. Many people believe that cancer is only diagnosed in older people. The primary ages of men who are diagnosed with testicular cancer fall between sixteen and twenty-four. Skin cancer has been diagnosed in patients as young as eighteen. (American Cancer Society). Many people often refer to the countless survivors of cancer. In reality, almost half of cancer patients will die from the cancer alone while another fifteen percent will die solely from malnutrition (American Cancer Society). Can anyone truly imagine what dying from malnutrition must entail? What about AIDS? Everyone has heard about HIV and knows that it's sexually transmitted, but not everyone takes into consideration the danger they face of contracting this horrible disease.
