Aviation Fatalities: "he died doing something he loved..."

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
The sentiments you hear and see spoken and written after the death of a
pilot such as the ones you are referring to here are sentiments usually
expressed by those outside the inner circle of the pilot gone south.

I've got a slightly different "take" on this matter.

I am a firm believer in "dying while doing something we love" as being
the preferred way to meet our demise. I believe this sentiment is
expressed NOT by those who are ignorant of the pain of "blunt force
trauma," but rather it is held by those of us who have witnessed
friends and loved ones die of old age, infirmity, or one of the
"wasting" illnesses (I.E.: cancer; tuberculosis; emphesema, Lou
Gehrig's Disease, etc.)

I, for one, spent the last 15 minutes of my mother's life holding her
hand, watching her gasp for breath after agonizing breath. (And this
only after many days of ever-increasing, unrelenting discomfort
beforehand.) I also knew a man who died a long, cruel death, trapped
inside a body that no longer functioned. And finally, my father died a
long, slow death from cancer. This once proud man ended his days
incontinent, and as unhappy as any living being can be.

I can guarantee you, 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they all
would MUCH rather have died while doing something they loved.

Of this I have no doubt.
To feel these things when connected to the death of a loved one dying of old
age or a health issue is absolutely normal, and in fact expected.
Your scenarios however exist outside the flight test community, and as such
I see no connection between what you have said and the context of my
remarks.
I can only speak about my community from my experience within that
community. I make no effort to speak outside that reference and for anyone
else.
Dudley Henriques