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The looks on their faces when they die

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Conflict On March 25, 2024




Alcalá de Henares, Spain
#1New Post! Mar 02, 2019 @ 21:39:34
In films, I have observed them, in literature I've read of them. In my personal life, I've been told about them. I'd like to understand the nature of this notion.

My father was said to have a very tired look on his face when he passed away. He died of kidney failure, which killed him before his cancer could take him, at the age of 67, never having really taken care of his health, stayed in one place, held a stable job, and only marrying and settling down only years before his death.

This is but one example. Please, let's explore the concept of people's expressions before they die. They reveal the one last thing they feel and that's to all of them, since we are all diffferent.
Darkman666 On March 27, 2024




Saint Louis, Missouri
#2New Post! Mar 02, 2019 @ 22:33:45
when my father's died of pancreas of cancer, I was 13 years old. my father was extreme pain at the end of his life at 42 years old. at the hospital, he died in his sleep, so nobody saw his facial expression in the middle of the night, when he died. I think my father probably want that way for us not to see him died.
Erimitus On July 01, 2021




The mind of God, Antarctica
#3New Post! Mar 03, 2019 @ 00:29:09
surprise
Jennifer1984 On July 20, 2022
Returner and proud





Penzance, United Kingdom
#4New Post! Mar 03, 2019 @ 01:00:57
I think we would all like to pass out of this world looking at peace. No awful grimaces or pain contorted faces and death rattles gargling out from the deepest parts of the throat.

I've never actually watched anybody die and although I know it's inevitable that at least some of my loved ones are likely to pass before I do, I hope that if mine is the last hand they ever hold, or my eyes are the last they ever look into, then all I'll see is a peaceful transition take place.

Not that I'm squeamish. I've seen the inside of a number of human bodies and it isn't pretty. And by the cringe, we smell bloody awful inside.

But we want the last moments of those we love to be content, or happy, or peaceful or whatever, not wracked in pain and suffering.

Art can often imitate life, but it does tend to turn death into a melodrama and I think that does the dying a disservice. It makes their final moments into entertainment when in truth they should be intimate, personal and in a strange way, joyous.

It's not impossible that somebody can be glad for the life they've had and take the view that, now it's ending, it was good while it lasted so be happy at that.

Be glad that you're surrounded by familiar things and the people who love you.

Or, as some put it.... "Leave 'em laughing when you go." Oscar Wilde's last reported words were "Those curtains are awful, either they go or I do."

Gotta admit...that's funny.
Erimitus On July 01, 2021




The mind of God, Antarctica
#5New Post! Mar 03, 2019 @ 01:32:30
@Jennifer1984 Said

I think we would all like to pass out of this world looking at peace. No awful grimaces or pain contorted faces and death rattles gargling out from the deepest parts of the throat.

I've never actually watched anybody die and although I know it's inevitable that at least some of my loved ones are likely to pass before I do, I hope that if mine is the last hand they ever hold, or my eyes are the last they ever look into, then all I'll see is a peaceful transition take place.

Not that I'm squeamish. I've seen the inside of a number of human bodies and it isn't pretty. And by the cringe, we smell bloody awful inside.

But we want the last moments of those we love to be content, or happy, or peaceful or whatever, not wracked in pain and suffering.

Art can often imitate life, but it does tend to turn death into a melodrama and I think that does the dying a disservice. It makes their final moments into entertainment when in truth they should be intimate, personal and in a strange way, joyous.

It's not impossible that somebody can be glad for the life they've had and take the view that, now it's ending, it was good while it lasted so be happy at that.

Be glad that you're surrounded by familiar things and the people who love you.

Or, as some put it.... "Leave 'em laughing when you go." Oscar Wilde's last reported words were "Those curtains are awful, either they go or I do."

Gotta admit...that's funny.


Before I became a paramedic I had never seen anyone die. I believe people who work the streets (e.g., paramedics) see a lot more death than the average person.

I had an old nun once who had just been given the last rites. She could not have been happier. For some there is fear. In my experience a lot of people don't even realize they a dying. Of course I was out in the mud and the blood and the beer. I suspect that those in a clinical environment, who know what is happening, there is acceptance.
chaski On about 13 hours ago
Stalker





Tree at Floydgirrl's Window,
#6New Post! Mar 03, 2019 @ 01:41:23
I've seen numerous people in the days or even hours before their death, mostly there was a hint on anguish.

One woman was in a hospital; ICU. CPR was being done on her. Her heart restarted. She was alive, but her face showed no life. If she had a soul, it seems to me that it had already left. She died a day or two later. I did not see her face on that day, but on the day I saw her face there was nothing there; no emotion at all.

I also once saw a guy who had committed suicide (hanging). I have no memory of his expression. I remember his body, but not his face.

My grandmother and aunt died (I am told) peacefully in their sleep. Their faces (I am told) looked as if they were asleep; peaceful.

I have seen animals die. To me they (their faces) looked like they were asleep... at least most did.

I watched my grandfather die. His death mask was that of an old man. Life was gone before his death. If "we" have souls, his was gone long before the stopping of his heart. The look on his face was neither pleasant, nor was it horrifying. It was simply death. Nearly 40 years later I can still see the look on his face. If I had a choice, I would never see that look ever again.
Conflict On March 25, 2024




Alcalá de Henares, Spain
#7New Post! Mar 03, 2019 @ 21:28:15
I think circumstances would play a role in determining what kind of expression people would have on their faces when they pass. My uncle passed away very suddenly at the table of a restaurant and a picture sent to me by my cousin shows a relaxed expression on his face, as if his growth hormone related health issues were no longer a problem because he was leaving us and he was happy about that. Also, being married to someone who couldn't accompany him to work must've really took its toll on him. She took care of him and the house, but in no way, shape or form, was she his equal on a professional or social level. He must have been relieved to know that he could move on and look for a companion in the next life that was useful at home, but never able or willing to go with him to his conferences or meet his friends at work.

These are possible reasons for why the death mask may look the way it does when the person's time comes.
Conflict On March 25, 2024




Alcalá de Henares, Spain
#8New Post! Apr 16, 2019 @ 19:28:19
I was hoping we could continue this discussion. Could we, please?
Darkman666 On March 27, 2024




Saint Louis, Missouri
#9New Post! Apr 16, 2019 @ 19:48:35
i think when you are dying like in shock of heart attack or being shot, and then die.

really, you are in shock, and you can't believe happen to you. how you prepare, what you have on your face. you probably drown in quicksand, because more struggle, you sink.

what kind of looks to you suppose have when you are dying?
Erimitus On July 01, 2021




The mind of God, Antarctica
#10New Post! Apr 16, 2019 @ 19:49:49
@darkman666 Said

i think when you are dying like in shock of heart attack or being shot, and then die.

really, you are in shock, and you can't believe happen to you. how you prepare, what you have on your face. you probably drown in quicksand, because more struggle, you sink.

what kind of looks to you suppose have when you are dying?



surprise
Darkman666 On March 27, 2024




Saint Louis, Missouri
#11New Post! Apr 16, 2019 @ 19:58:04
@Erimitus Said

surprise


depending how you use the word: shock. your body is in shock, and your mind react as a huge surprise. I guess the first thing, your mind react to the situation.

shock or surprise
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