For over a decade, “On Death and Dying” by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has graced my bookshelf. It’s Mom’s copy. When sorting through all of her stuff, it was a keeper.
I read a library copy of the book, and many others like it, in my first year of college. I was writing a paper on death, the cultural approach, the facts and the perspectives, and the insights of people who were declared dead and then phoenixed. I have had a lifelong interest in how the “soul” continues past the death of the body.
(I put that in quotes, because anyone who reads this immediately jumps into their own belief system in the word soul. I don’t have a personal hold on individuality past the end of the body. It feels like the individuality may do more of a merge with the universal, and yet can be distinguished as individual by those still in bodies. Way too much to explain in a side note.)
It is fun to read and hear about near death experiences. DeeDee’s X, Mike, was in a coma for months. He came back to life. I had to ask: What was it like? He said, “It was like being every religion at the same time… I will never fear death again.” He was elated, vibrant, excited to continue on earth. Yet, he had lost his limbs when the blood rushed to his core to fight the infection. Elated, excited. I hope he retained some of what he experienced!
In writing my paper, I didn’t learn anything new. It has been with me all along. Dorothy and the red slippers. There is no place like home. And we are always home.
micheleplumbstowell.org 