My sister and brother-in-law died within two months of each other earlier this year. I had skin cancer removed last January. However, I am still working at 65 and intend to do so until I cannot keep up with the kids any longer. I am also going to be a great-grandfather soon and want to be able to see this kid grow up in a better society than we have now.

I am not afraid of death but of the pain associated with dying. I am reminded of the eulogy given by Robert Ingersoll at a child's grave.
"No man standing where the horizon of a life has touched a grave has any right to prophesy a future filled with pain and tears. It may be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those who press and strain against our hearts could never die, perhaps that love would wither from the earth. Maybe a common faith treads from out the paths between our hearts the weeds of selfishness, and I should rather live and love where death is king than have eternal life where love is not. Another life is naught, unless we know and love again the ones who love us here."
(https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/i/ingersoll/robert_green/lectures/chapter9.html)

I'm sorry for you loss. I lost a dear friend a few years back and felt like my heart was broken. I was in pain for months, but as time went by I became stronger and learned to appreciate life more than before. As for my mortality, I'm not concerned. I 52 and know I could go anytime, but that's out of my control. I live my life to the fullest everyday. Hang in there.

"Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back."
Marcus Aurelius

I used to be terrified of the thought of ceasing to be. I've gradually gotten more comfortable with the idea, thinking of it as a natural part of who we are. Still, I hope to have quite a few more years in me and generally avoid thinking about death.

I am sorry for your loss. Death sucks...but part of life. I doubt any of us will miss life on this plane.

Caring for others. I want to die after my wife dies. I want to be able to take care of her untill that time she passes. Then death for me anytime after that. Hang in there my friend. It's all good.

I have often said, "I don't fear death... it's dying that scares me."

I've a couple of moment, health-wise, where it was a real possibility that I could be staring down my expiration date. I cried a lot until the biopsy showed negative (doctors didn't think it was going to come back negative). Then I cried more.

There's a part of me that just wants to get this thing over... pull of the band-aid... but there's part of me that wants to stick around for as long as I can. The irony is, it's going to happen, and there's really nothing I can do to stop it. I think that troubles me more... that I have no choice, and definitely no control.

I don't really know how to process all of this. I live in a universe that goes to great lengths to create and sustain life, but even greater lengths to destroy it. It's a paradox I haven't figured out how to live with.

Dealing with your own death? That seems like it’ll take care of itself.

My condolences for your loss and I'm sorry to hear about your health. My being dead wouldn't bother me but dying would, the loneliness in the last great journey we must take alone and any regrets when we review our life. What I would try to focus on is gratitude and forgiveness. Be grateful for positives in your life even the little things, and be quick to forgive, especially yourself, for the negatives.

When its my turn to go, I'm going. It doesn't matter what I do to prevent my death, I'm still going. Because I believe that in my heart death does not scare me.

As an 80 year old, I would suggest that you allow yourself to live every minute of every day to the fullest extent -- not in the sense of cramming things in, but in the sense of a connoisseur of fine brandy would snift the aroma and savor the bouquet. Appreciate the little things for what they are while you still can. Form and carry out short term goals which bring pleasure and quality to your life. For me, I grow, harvest, eat, and share the fruits of a vegetable garden 3 times a year. I

Death? It's either going to be absolutely nothing or it's going to be one hell of an adventure. As for the process? I can only hope it's quick. I really don't want to waste away in some hospice care.

Death is natural state we all end up in,it's no worse than what existed before we were born.I believe we are all small parts of something very much bigger,we are not separate from the rest of the i universe we are very much part of it. We are all connected to something higher and each other since I view every individual as also the same as me. One person dying is neither here nor there in the bigger picture,it is all fine as it is part of the plan.
That said grieving friends and family is a tough ask. We do get caught up in our own little worlds,but maybe its best just to keep an eye on the bigger picture and not too wrapped up in our own mortal lives. As the Bhuddists say ths life is not the be all and end all,yes its to be enjoyed and we must love one another, but it's not all there is.

I'm sorry about your father, I hope you're getting through losing him as best you can.

I'm not afraid of being dead, I won't even know I'm dead.
How I'll feel about dying is something I can't say for sure.
There are many ways to die that I wouldn't want to experience, but that choice isn't mine I can only hope it's quick and/or painless.

Although I have an anticipatory, empathetic connection to the me of tomorrow, I don't actually believe in the persistence of self. I can imagine the future person who will occupy my space, but if that guy gets hit by a bus it doesn't affect me in the here and now. I think persistent identity is illusory, and moment to moment we're new people with extremely similar characteristics to the person who previously occupied our space and to the person who will soon occupy our space, but the change over time is significant. So, when death comes, it's less a destruction of me than it's a failure to create the next replacement me. I don't know whether that helps, but I find comfort in the idea that I'm transitory and all I really have is the "now" me (although I have an obligation to "future" me because my actions affect him directly).

My mom taught me this...

Yesterday is done, be the best you can be today for tomorrow is promised to no one.

Up until recently, I considered myself a non-practicing Christian, now an agnostic-atheist. I don't know what will happen when I die but I suspect that when it happens I will no longer care.

I would rather not worry about something I have no control over and try to be the best I can be today.

PS I’m so out of it today...I’m sorry about your dad. I hope you have wonderful memories of him.

a long sleep, and thoroughly deserved!

When Christopher Hitchens was asked this in the midst of Cancer treatments he said I don’t fear death, just the process of dying. When it’s slow and drawn out it is difficult. I suppose that’s when we find out what we, and those who say they care for us, are made of. Death itself I do not fear. But I would not like to go out slowly and painfully. We have no control over that, however, and I’m learning to let go of worrying about what I have no control over. Live life. Love people. Leave no regrets. That’s sort of my view of it.

It means the end of me. I want to be buried with a living tree over me. That way I'm slowly scattered.