Holden on death

“It is in death that we begin to become more human, isn’t it? In death that we are directly faced with our mortality. Or someone else’s mortality. In death that we see and feel the tears trickling down cheeks, tasting salt on our tongues, only ever wiping them away when they’ve drenched our necks. In death that we feel a human loss, not of a phone or a wallet, but of a presence.

No matter who we’ve been, how far we have “progressed” in life, in death we are reduced. When a loved one dies, we are reduced to common folk. When we die, we are reduced to a memory.

Or we are enhanced. A stronger person or a stronger presence.”