New life after death?

Well said Elegran and em. DCMG I actually believe in reincarnation but not one sillygirl said, if you read the posts very carefully, that anyone was dying to make way for a new baby. Did you think we thought they would come back in a new baby's body, hahahaha what a thought! Men, sometimes they just don't get it and you can take them or leave them, I suggest we leave them and get on with our sentimental posts of isn't is lovely when we lose a loved one and then a baby is born in the family . It doesn't always happen, in my family all of my grandparents died long after the last of their grandchildren were born.

The birthday clusters fascinate me, it is lovely when a baby is born around your birthday. My D1 was born the day before my 21st, my father and father in law were born on the same day ten years apart, my brother was born the day before his twin sister, my niece was born on my mother's birthday, my niece's children were born on the same day two years apart, my granddaughter was born on her grandfather's birthday, my three 3 year old grandchildren were born 17 days apart, plus my eldest granddaughter has her birthday the day before one of them. My very new granddaughter was not born any where near anyone in my family's birthdays, but she was born on the 12th and her cousin (father's side) and her paternal grandmother have their birthdays on the 11th and 13th November. phew Nothing spooky about any of that, just nice!

Mishap for me your poem has a lot of meaning. Thank you.

Well, I'm b------d if I find it in the least bit comforting.

Sod that.

You would be dead anyway, so why not try to save another family grief?

No! They can have any bits they want.

I meant bagitha's thing about worms and daisies.

Ah, I see what you mean, jingl. I don't mind what they do with my body - a least if you are an organ donor you can be sure you are really dead!

mishap your poem was beautiful.

Well said em I was about to add a message saying exactly that to dcmg! Why is it that some people just cannot live and let live.

My mother-in-law died on the same day as my daughter made her first Holy Communion. OK it may be sentiment but in the last months of her life she followed her GD's progress with her first Communion preparation. It seemed that once her GD had received for the first time MIL's work was done.
Clearly some do not believe but others do and should be allowed to express their feelings without being bombarded with science etc.
Live and let live please!

That's true Greatnan. But I don't reckon they'd want my over-the-hill bits.

I think old corneas are still useful.

That is true Greatnan my Aunt donated her corneas and she was 80.

I am registered on-line as a donor as well as carrying a card, but apparently it only works if your nearest and dearest are aware of your wishes. I think we should push for an opt-out system rather than the opt-in one we have at present. So many 'bits' are wasted daily. Can't remember if there has been a thread on this before but maybe we should start one if not.

Like Gally I carry a card and am also registered on-line as a donor. My family know of my wishes, too.
I'd just like to pick up on what silverfoxygransaid. Many years ago, my sister-in-law, who I hadn't seen for a very long time and who knew very little about what path my life had taken in the earlier years, told me that she'd had a dream that involved my partner's (and her husband's) late father. She'd been very fond of the man and was terribly upset when he died. The dream she had was in the early 80's and her father-in-law had been dead for at least 25 years. She dreamt that she'd been worrying about him and if he was ok where he was. He spoke to her and said that she shouldn't worry about him. He had a 15-year-old boy that he had to take care of and he was just fine. There wasn't any way at that time that my sister-in-law could have known that I'd had a baby who had died of cot-death in 1968. What she told me has given me enormous comfort over the years, as it has her.
I think we should just believe in what we believe in. No mathematical workings-out etc would shake my faith in what I do believe in. I'm not a religious person, but I do think we do 'move on'.

Thank you for kind comments about poem.

I have no belief in an afterlife - I just think our atoms return to the cosmic soup whence they came.

There is however a very powerful emotional response to a death and birth in quick succession - the one highlights the other: the pain of loss and the joy at the miracle of birth.

For me the juxtaposition of the two events felt quite hard - mostly when my GC have been born there has just been the excitement of a new life and lots to look forward to; but the death of my mother at the same time was a stark reminder of mortality and how it applies to the little new one too, which is not usually the first thing that enters one's mind when a new child is born. It felt like a difficult time.

I am sure that we all live on in what we have done and said and how these have impacted on others; this in their turn affects how they relate to others - and so on ad infinitum. We are all immortal in that sense.

The reference to atoms returning to their source reminded me of the conclusion to Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy. I like that idea, which is why I have told my children that I don't want to be confined to a designated spot after I go. I want to be nowhere and everywhere.

em...meet you there

In the Hans Anderson story, the mermaids and mermen become part of the froth on the waves when they die.

We are made of the same atoms that make up the universe. It is fitting that we return to them when we die.

I second Gally's suggestion that we should have an opt-out system instead of the present opt in. I wonder if we can have any influence on the powers that be.

One question I have that no one seems to be able to answer is "can you be an organ donor if you have had cancer and since been given the all clear?" I had breast cancer many years ago and as soon as I was diagnosed I was stopped from being a blood donor. Does the same apply to organs?

Interesting question, yoga. I haven't been able to be a blood donor for a long time, but I'm still registered as an organ donor. I guess they won't be using my blood in any organs they might use. The cancer thing is another question though. You'd think that, if it mattered, you'd have to declare it when you register as a donor.

There was a story in the newspapers some time ago about a recipient who had developed cancer after receiving a kidney from someone who had been suffering from undiagnosed cancer. They were tracing everyone else who had received an organ from that donor. However, if cancer has been cured I would expect it not to matter.
If I die in France I am not sure whether they would use any of my organs.
However , it is much more likely that I will die in New Zealand and I have already conacted the service there and found out what I need to do.

It seems to happen all the time in our family, like making way,I'm sure it's just coincidence. My Mother died just a few weeks before my Grandaughter was born,and my mother -in-law died just a week before her youngest great grandchilld was born.It may all be rubbish as DCMG suggests, but I like the flow and continuation of life theme. Love the poem from Mishap

bagitha - I was really surprised when I filled out the online organ donor form that no mention was made of previous cancer treatment, so Ifilled it out anyway! If it's OK for organs to be used, why can't they use blood too. Doesn't apply to me now as I'm passed the age limit for giving blood but I was just wondering. Always just a bit put out as I was only a few pints away from getting my "gold badge" - another failure

I carry a very old and tatty organ donor card, but think I'd better do the online one. I am very much in favour of the opt-out system.
Frankly, if there's anything worth having, they're welcome.
I'd also be happy with being used for research ........ as long as there was a bit of me left to be sprinkled in my favoured spot.

yoga, they won't use my blood not because it's unhealthy but because it's loaded with the painkillers I need but which for someone else might be a bother! Like you, I was a regular donor at one time, then they started just taking platelets (I had a high count apparently and platelets are useful for treating leukaemia) — take out a half litre of blood, spin out the platelets, pump the red blood cells back in, take another half litre, etc., five times. That way I could donate every month because making platelets takes hardly any time whereas you need a few months' gap if they take your red blood cells in whole blood. Then, coinciding with the Aids/HIV scare they made all the rules much stricter and decided the painkillers that I'd been taking all along (which they knew about) plus the fact that I was on the borderline to be heavy enough to give blood anyway, meant it wasn't a good idea for me to be a donor. Oh well, did my bit while I could.

I was born the day after Marconi died... and guess what - I listen to the wireless!

I like the cut of your jib, feetlebaum. I have been trying to make an anagram of your user name, but nothing has come up so far. There is a Le Baume in France - any connection?