"In the body, and the instincts of the body, there should be no shame, but rather a frank, joyous pride."
~ Arnold Bennett ~
In January of 1999, my only sister took a bunch of pills and left her body lying on the floor by the wall in her apartment in Lander, Wyoming where the landlord found her three days later. She was 32 years old.
When I saw her, she was frozen solid at the funeral home, and made-up just for my benefit. I washed the make-up off- she never wore any - and cleaned dried blood from her abdomen where they had performed the autopsy, and while I did that, I reveled in the beauty and mystique of her freshly abandoned physical form- the musculature of her, and her signature moles. The experience gave me a profound appreciation for bodies in general and hers in particular.
In honor of all the bodies that have passed away, ashes to ashes and dust to dust, let's be sure to appreciate the ones we have, and treat them with the great care and compassion that they deserve.
I love and appreciate my body.
