life by candlelight

So, last Sunday was the series finale of "Six Feet Under." *spoiler alert*
It was a show I had a love/hate relationship with. I would often get frustrated with the characters. At how self-absorbed and whiny they could be. I'd quit watching for awhile and then I'd start up again. Maybe I didn't like it because I saw things in them that I didn't like in myself. But the show was well written and covered some pretty brave territory. I especially liked the character of David. The last show really shook me. I thought it was great but the last 5-10 minutes caught me by surprise. I like the fact that the show always brought death right to the forefront. It reminded us that death is a fact of life that we cannot escape from even though we try to ignore it. Seeing how each character eventually died gave all the viewers real closure. But it also reminded us yet again of the transience of life.

I have been working on reading the book "And Ladies of the Club" for the past year. I pick it up, read it for a few days, and then put it down again. It's a good book but it's difficult. It starts in 1868 with the formation of a women's club and ends in the late 1930's. You follow all of the characters in great detail, sharing their lives and joys and sorrows. The two main characters were 18 when the book started and now they are grandmothers. It kind of makes me melancholy in the way that the end of SIX FEET UNDER did. Why can't we just stay at our physical peak for the rest of our lives. Why do we all eventually have to turn youth over to others and face the breakdown of our bodies? Time is harsh. But then, we get to experience so many new and wonderful things as we age as well. I don't know. Maybe I'm just too much in my own head right now.