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This was a really captivating article. I was reading it last night with Kenna, and she was really inspired by it and took off to write. I think it is beautiful and sad.

I agree that death doesn't get the respect it deserves. My mom was always really blunt with me about things I'd have to face in life, and death was one of them. It was a cat that died that sparked the conversation, and we buried it, and my mom explained death, how unexpected it can be, how everyone is going to die including her, my brothers, me, but how it isn't something I should spend my time worrying over. She let me ask whatever questions I wanted, and I came to understand and be quite comfortable with the fact that death is just as much a part of life as life itself is...But, my poor mom did get quite the disgusted looks from other parents, when I'd suddenly start popping off with another round of questions... you know, in the grocery store and the like, because they were things like "What would you look like dead?" "What would you feel like?" --and in response to the explanation to that one, I asked if a dead person was as cold as frozen peas. I was a delightful five-year-old.

When grass grew back over where we'd dug up a hole to bury the cat that had died, I remember I wanted to dig her up, as with most children the permanence of her departure was something I just couldn't grasp. My mom explained decomposition and how all we would find, if anything, was her bones. My dad told me how decomposing things gave nutrients to dirt that let plants grow. That put in my mind that my cat was now the grass that had grown. From that stemmed a Pocahontas-like understanding of nature. Everything was A LIVING THING. (Oh, and then my dad was like, yeah plants are alive, and I was like yesssssssssssss! Cue my love for nature, directly tied to my childlike fascination with death). I came to view death as a powerful force, which in truth awed me. My understanding of life and death changed as I grew, and interestingly enough the first time I feared death was when I was 8/9 ish when we first starting to go to church...

It still does evoke a full-range of emotion from me, from awe to fear, and definitely respect. My mom's choice may have been less-than-typical, but I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

Beautiful story Bard. It's too bad we lose that sense of excitement and wonder as adults.

Ragtimelil - You and me both, but this one even cracked my hard-faced exterior!

Thank you very much. The ending to this one did leave me with tears in my eyes.

I'm not a romantic, but what a touching story.

Beautiful article Jo. Unfortunately, everything in life must come to an end.

I'm glad that you liked it. I found their story to be incredibly sweet.

Thanks for posting! Yes, it is easy enough to make recyling as a habit and that is what it is like for me.

Yes, although I haven't bothered much with Christmas as I have grown older I have plenty of good memories to look back on! Thanks for commenting!

'Marilyn,
Judy,
Sylvia,
Tell 'em how you feel, girls,
Work your blond, Benet Ramsey,
We'll haunt like Liberace.
Find your freedom in the music
Find your Jesus, find your Kubrick.
You will never fall apart,
Diana, you're still in our hearts,
Never let you fall apart,
Together we'll dance in the dark.'

It's funny that I read this only a couple days after discussing with my friends about how much movies and television and other things are censored in Britain. I was really surprised actually, I wouldn't have expected that.

I was really little when she died, but it was a really big deal. I never understood quite why, I just assumed it was because she was a princess, and my mom said something like, 'no! It's because people wanted her dead because they didn't think she should have been a princess,' (wth mom ?!) and so I decided being a princess was way too scary, thank you very much. It wasn't until years and years later that I learned why her death was such a tragedy.

I'm pleased that you think so, and I hope that it comes in very handy.

Glad to have been of assistance! And please do come back and let us know, when you have your eBook in the on-line stores.

Good luck!

Infant mortality was so high during the Victorian era that it was a rare parent who didn't lose at least one. I've seen some truly heart-breaking memorials, like one in Haworth, Yorkshire, where 12 infants were lost. None of them had made it past five, with the majority dying in the first year.

The quantity might have been remarkable, but the ages of the deceased children weren't.

I've read healthcare and parenting guidance from the period, which recommended that you didn't try to bound with your baby (nor really consider it a real thinking, feeling person) until at least one years of age. It was for this very reason.

My heart goes out to them too.

LOL Indeed yes. I would have to way up all of the other facets too, like nine months of carrying it, followed by labor; then that small matter of a life-time parenting it.

But belly art paints definitely tip the balance towards yes!

My daughters and I are avid recyclers. We clean and separate all our paper, plastic, glass, tins and metals and the like. Thankfully we have a great recycling program in our city. It's so easy to do and becomes habit once you realize the need. Hopefully it will continue to catch on and take root.