My family cat died when I moved out of home 2 years ago. Had that cat for 9 years, and he was 3 years old when we got him. Man he had so much character the poor thing. He lived a good life and a long one too.

If only pets could live as long as you do, then you insert plastic explosives into them and detonate them on your death bed so they follow you to the after life (kidding, that's just pure selfish evil).

Well, I've had pets die. they're just sidelines though, compared to family members.
Animals is animals and peoples is peoples.

Not that animals don't hold a special spot in our hearts, but family's by far more important.

My cat died many years ago because my brother (aged 3 at the time) jumped on him. He broke his hind leg, and we had to have him put down..

Idiotic little brothers.. 

I lived with my grandma and she died and I found her.  My great grandma died last year, my great great aunt this year, as well as my great "uncle" Barb.  And many more have died.

My dad and all my grandparents. But I still gots my Sargie!!   

My Nan, Whome we all loved died when I was age 8 

I've also lost count of family members and pets. But I have been to about 7 funerals in nearly as many years, but there have been many I didn't go to. But I haven't lost an immediate family member yet, i.e. parents or sister, though my first dog did die when I was 8.

I 've had my share of dead pets. At least 7 goldfish, and 1 canary. I was away because of some exchange program with a francophone family, and my mom called. She put him in the freezer in a box and when I returned, I buried him in the garden.

I still have both sets of grandparents, and I even knew my great grandmother, who became 103.

I think the first one to go will be my grandfather (father's side). 

Only one of my grandparents was alive when I was born too, my nana on my Dad's side. But she died when I was about 4 or 5. Also when I was about that age we had a cat called Ben that died.

A friend of mine hung himself a couple of years ago after his girlfriend broke up with him.
No-one close to me has died as yet, except my grandfather - but he was 91.

My grand parents all died a while ago, I can remember them all though 

I'm lucky. The only close family death was when I was only 4 or 5. My grandfather on my mom's side, he was an avid fisherman and outdoorsman. I've only got a few memories of him, and in only one of them he is not lying on a hospital bed. Death by cancer at age 56, caused by smoking. The only things I have from him are some old cast-iron collector's piggybanks and my .22 rifle.He and I would have had some great times together, had he lived longer. It makes me sad.

But I am fortunate that the rest of my family is healthy.

 

Animals is animals and peoples is peoples.

ant == animal == human

My dog died in year 2002. He was very ill and died not an easy death... that’s sad.

Also my first cousin died about 8 years ago. He was only few years older than I and it was a strange death. He just went to sleep and didn't wake up at the morning... I mean he died while sleeping. Very unusual for a young man, and he was not a drug-addicted or something.

 

But I have been to about 7 funerals in nearly as many years

Personally, I hate funerals. They are silent worship of the spirit of Death. The fact of respecting of dead bodies shows how people are subconsciously afraid of death.
And what is interesting, the fact the relatives show their egoism during the funeral. I was at several funerals, and can say that close relatives are mostly speaking about “how it is bad that we lost him/her”. They behave like the dead one owe them by the fact of death. And no one notice it.

Also I have to notice that I don’t like graves, I prefer crematory or like the people of Xingjian do. They left dead relative in mountains for the wild beasts to eat. Really a good thing, why to dig a good biological material, when it can be useful?

A boy in Travis's graduating class died earlier this year when his jack failed and the car fell on top of him.  Some of his friends found him and I wrote the story for the school newspaper.  I didn't know him, but talking to his family and friends afterwards was really hard.

2 years ago a boy in my school year died suddenly in the Easter holidays. He was only 14. I didn't know him too well, but he was in my middle school tutor group and was in many of my classes. He was the person who'd ask me for a pen or pencil every so often in a lesson. It was really odd, he was really fit and healthy, but he died of a heart attack, caused by a clot in his leg. Thinking about it now it will be 2 years next week since he died  One big regret is that I didn't go to his funeral, and I still haven't been to see his grave as it's quite a long way away from where I live.

Mmm, it's difficult for us to visit where Rob's ashes were scattered, as it's on the Festival Site at Glastonbury, which is an 8 hour drive.  We all have our own way of remembering him, and we visit places we used to hang out.  Every year, I drink to his memory.

Once I get settled in the new house, I intend to keep in touch with his parents better.  It's one of the things I still can't really handle about it, and some of his mates have put pressure on me to keep that end of things up.  Which I think was kinda unfair of them.

I want to keep in touch with them, it'd be nice for them to know what I've done to keep his memory going, in keeping some of his songs alive.

*bump*
this thread is so sad. i read through it all and it took away all of my happiness. my cat died and thats it for right now, but the angels are about to take my grandma soon.

 

Originally posted by bender&fry:

this thread is so sad. i read through it all and it took away all of my happiness. my cat died and thats it for right now, but the angels are about to take my grandma soon.

Ay, it is a sad thread, it reminded me of the various funerals I've been to over the years. It reminded me of my cat, Katie, dying from a tumor which still upsets me to this day and my auntie aswell, she was found dead on the toilet 3 days after she died from a stroke. She was around 45-50.      

Knowing that it can happen to anyone and everyone and that its just life can be very comforting though.

Except for my cat....

YLB, you knew all of your great grandparents? :

Damn Fred and his math skills.   
Meh. I don't even have any grandparents, so forgive me for forgetting how many great grandparents I should have.