[One Thousand Characters a Day] 'Sentences of Mourning' for the End of Life <3>

Editor's NoteThe first half of this book is 'Jemangbuga (祭亡父歌)', a poem written by author Kim I-kyung in remembrance of her late father. At the same time, it is a gentle comfort offered to someone who is still enduring the time of mourning. Those who grieve are in pain. Pain is not a scar. However, when one becomes consumed by pain to the point of self-destruction, that pain becomes a scar. Just as life is connected to death, pain is an emotion that presupposes healing and transformation. The author says that we need to manage this special pain in a special way. Well-managed mourning, in other words, well-tuned pain, becomes the 'warmth of the heart' exchanged one last time between the living and the deceased. Word count: 991.

Just as every life is different, death is different for each person. Some die suddenly in an accident, others face their end after months or years of illness, and some pass away gradually due to old age.

Most people hope not to die suddenly and painfully from an accident or illness but to live a full life and die naturally. They wish to remain healthy without pain until old age and dream of a good death (well-dying) ? passing away peacefully without prolonged suffering. Therefore, they exercise diligently, eat healthily, and plan for a healthy old age.

However, dying peacefully after only a few days of illness is a rare death that comes to only a few, and in that sense, it is not natural at all.

The book Being Mortal by American surgeon Atul Gawande became a major topic in Korea as well. It reveals how different this natural death that many dream of is from reality. The reality is already evident from the book’s table of contents.

1. Independent Life ? The moment comes when you cannot stand alone

2. Decline ? Everything eventually falls apart

3. Dependence ? Losing control over one’s life

(…)

Just from the titles, can you not guess how aging progresses and what the final stage of life looks like? When the time to leave approaches due to aging and frailty, even without serious illness, the reality is that a person 'cannot stand alone,' the mind and body 'decline,' and they 'lose control over their life.' Atul Gawande emphasizes the importance of geriatrics and palliative care in his book and shows various types of elder care facilities to help us understand this reality.

Sherwin Nuland, a surgeon and world-renowned medical author, tells a similar story in his famous work How We Die. He points out that although modern legal and medical systems do not recognize old age as a cause of death and instead list diseases caused by aging as the cause, the greatest reason leading to death is aging itself. Aging is inherently a difficult process that can lead to death and is ultimately a factor in death.

? Kim I-kyung, Sentences of Mourning, Seohae Munjip, 14,000 KRW