Do You Live Life, or Do You Live Death?

“Mom,” thirteen-year-old Betty-Ann asked her mom as she entered the living room after a tiring day at school, resting her backpack on a chair by the window, “Can humans live death?”

Gloria Benson stared at her daughter in awe and asked, “Say what!”

“We were discussing success and failure at school while awaiting the school bus, and one of my classmates said some people live life and some live death,” she explained.

“How do we live death?” Gloria gulped down her pain and shock, adding fear to her heart.

Betty-Ann swayed her head, then took her mom’s hand, leading her further into the living room.

“You are scaring me, honey,” her mom said as she sat down in a triple-seat sofa.

“I just want you to be comfortable when you hear what I have to say,” she explained.

Gloria nods and positions herself in the middle of the sofa, easing back. In case she falls, she lands on something soft.

Her daughter realized her mom’s nervousness and eased the ottoman away, sitting in a yoga pose facing her, on the multicolored area rug, then elaborated, “Uncle Bill had his own furniture shop for more than forty years. He has four children, four different mothers. He helps none of his children to progress in life. He failed to fulfill any of their dreams and neglected all his responsibilities as a father. None of them likes him or wants to be around him. Mom, none of them know him. He is getting older and very sick. He wasted all of his money on sex, alcohol, and women. Now the only valuable thing he owns is his tools. How come his life turned out that way? He is alone now because of how he lives; not even family wants him around them.”

Gloria stared at her thirteen-year-old child as her heart sped up. Thinking about her brother and how he lived, she now understood what her daughter was saying. She signaled for her to sit beside her, which she obeyed, then shared, “You are right. Some of us live life, and others live death.”

“So, he lived death by his life decisions?” she asked.

Gloria’s eyes popped, and her daughter squeezed her hand, then recalls, “You, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Chris, and others live the opposite, but none of you had the amount of money Uncle Bill had.”

“We were so busy living life and caring for the ones we love, we weren’t aware that we are.” Her mother gave her the best answer she could think of.

“So, doing your duty as parents, caring, sharing, loving, helping others, and living life with your family is what it’s all about. Unlike Uncle Bill, who cares only for himself?”

Living for ourselves only is like living death. The opposite is true when we live for others. Annelise Lords

Damn, Gloria says under her breath, trying to pull her hand away from her daughter before she feels her pain.

“Yes, angel,” she said, turning her eyes away.

“Like my dad, grandparents, our teachers, some of my friends, people at church, and all over the world,” she went on.

“Yes, baby,” Gloria squeezed her daughter’s hand with both hands this time.

She reached over, hugged her Mom tightly, then eased away, saying, “Thank you for not living death, Mom. Because of that, I know my dreams will come through. When I grow up, I am going to live life, not death like Uncle Bill, because I don’t want to die unhappy or alone.”

“Don’t wait until you grow up, honey, start living life now. Be kind, thoughtful, understanding, forgiving, etc. Life will pay you back, too,” Gloria encouraged her.

She stared at her mother, furrowing her brows, then asked, “So life is paying back Uncle Bill with bad health, loneliness, no money, and pain?”

Gloria grabbed a quick breath and said, “Life pays us back according to how we live. I guess it is.”

“But we will all die, Mom,” Betty-Ann said sadly.

“True,” her mother said, breathing heavily. “But we know life; we don’t know or understand death, so why live something we don’t know or understand?”

Betty-Ann grinned, then declared her eyes on the clock to the right over the entrance to the kitchen, raised her right hand in the air, her left hand on her chest across her left breast, and swore, “As of today at 4:58 PM, I, Betty-Ann Benson, will start living life!”

“Finally,” her older brother Michael said, exiting the kitchen with a hungry look on his face. “Now go make me a sandwich.”

“I am not living my life as your maid,” she giggled, glancing around for something to throw at him. He laughed, then eased towards her, and they hugged, then he read his mother’s fear and soothed, “I will make you both dinner tonight, that’s my way of living life. Yes, I heard your conversation. Sorry, for Uncle Bill.”

Many humans are living in death, unaware. Annelise Lords

Some of us live life with a little. Others live death with a lot.

Do you live Life or Death?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.