They were thinking "I Am Glad It's Not Me"

Over the last few weeks I had the unfortunate duty to attend two wakes. I did not know the people who died, rather I showed up out of respect to the people involved.  The first involved a brother of a friend of my son. We know the dad. The son was 29 and died of an overdose.

The second wake involved someone I worked with, he and his wife went to bed one night and when he awoke the following morning, she was dead.

Both sad events, both with loss of life. I watched as people came in to pay their respects, trying to offer a bit of comfort to the grieving loved ones. A few spoke, speaking of the good times, sometime with tears, voices choking with emotion. The turn out of people was bigger then I expected, which was good. Families and friends are scattered throughout the country so I did not know what to expect.

Might the thinking be, I wondered,  throughout the gathering was,  it is not my turn yet. I am not ready yet. I will never be ready.

But the one thought in everyone's mind was:

I am glad it is not me.