Pamela Cuming

Few of us are naturally comfortable in the presence of the dying. In fact, most of us are uncomfortable even talking about death. We rarely use the word itself. Instead, we say that someone has “passed on” or “passed over” or “gone to a better place.” People even tend to be uncomfortable in the presence of someone who has just lost a loved one. They invite the recent widow or widower to a dinner party, and then do everything they can to steer the conversation away from the elephant in the room. In A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis says “An odd byproduct of my loss is that I’m aware of being an embarrassment to everyone I meet. At work, at the club, in the street, I see people, as they approach me, trying to make up their minds whether they’ll ‘say something about it or not. I hate it if they do, and if they don’t...Perhaps the bereaved ought to be isolated in special settlements like lepers.” 1 C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed. (New York, HarperCollins e-books, 1961), 5-6. Read More