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Saying Goodbye to Saverio.

At this time, I am praying that words don't fail me because I have a lot on my mind and I want to communicate to my readers the urgency that I feel in my heart for compassion for the dying. We live in a different world right now, it's definitely not the world that I grew up in as I say goodbye to my 83 year old uncle who just passed away. I am afraid if I don't communicate properly, I will fail to get the message across that dying in this country can be a terribly frightening thing for our most vulnerable. In most cases, we don't get to choose the way we are going to die. Sometimes this is chosen for us, if we are really sick and haven't made plans. The bible teaches that there is beauty and grace in life, and in death. I have grown up in a world that taught me that death shouldn't be something to be feared, as a Christian I am taught that it is appointed for man to die once then after that comes the particular Judgement by God. Catholics believe that there might be a time of purification in purgatory, and evangelicals or protestants believe that when a Christian dies their soul goes immediately into the presence of the Lord.

I just watched my uncle as he was dying of Cancer in palliative care, and felt an urgency to write about my belief about death, and how I feel it is terribly important for our culture to consider the dignity of the human body, and the importance of each soul. My uncle was a man who embraced life, he was the life of the party and loved his family deeply. Because we are Italian, there is an importance placed on enjoying life and when it ends it leaves us feeling like we should of had more of it. This brings me to stress the importance of forgiveness for those of us who are struggling to let go and for the ones who cared for my uncle as he was dying, and for ourselves as Saverio was entering eternity. If we understand that God is Holy, we will more fully understand the dignity of the human body and when it is gone it can't be replaced. It is true that we are more than a body, but while on earth our body and our souls make us fully human.

When the soul leaves the body at death, that person doesn't stop being a person, the soul is what lives on after death and it is that spirit that can have fellowship with God in the person of Jesus Christ. The reason why I believe our souls live on is because that is what the bible teaches. In John 3:16 the bible says; "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." I was able to tell Saverio I loved him before he died, and even though he looked like he was in a lot of pain and somewhat unconscious, I believe his soul heard me. I know that my uncle loved me, I was very confident of this. I knew he was like a second father to my mother, and I knew my uncle loved my mother very much. I come from a loving family, and I will always be grateful for the home that my uncle provided and helped created for me and all of my relatives. This is Mike.

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