Mortality Day

Memorial Days is set aside for all to remember,

We remember our loved ones no longer with us.

Each year the list gets longer for me:

Brother died at birth

All great-grandparents

Paternal and Maternal grandparents

Aunts and Uncles

Cousins

Father-in-law

Father

Then I remember those that weren't family, but I knew in one way or another:

Students that didn't make it through the school year,

Former students

Fellow classmates from High School and College

Colleagues

Brief acquaintances

Some I remember having long, full, and happy lives,

Some I never really knew,

Some I know had lives cut short by disease, accident, combat

Some I mourned for momentarily

Some I mourn for almost every day

The longer the list grows each year,

Reminds me that death is a part of living,

This day forces me to think of my mortality,

Mortality day it should be named, for that is what it is.