The departure of people we know...

Close encounter with death is pretty occassional for all of us. We do read about accidents, deaths in news papers, books, of course watch it on TV, but it does not affect us much. The news paper reports are a part of our routine, its like coffee and tea the first thing in the morning. Thats fine with us we are not affected. The effect of TV is a little more palpable, because visual medium is more effective than the print medium. Gory images might linger around for a few more minutes in our mind. But what about those whom we see , we know and we interact with die? They might not be our buddies, not even part of family, may be some one whom we just happen to know. A person who lives in the same neighbourhood, or a neighbor who has long moved out of our area, but still in touch. The milk man, the first face we see every mornings, or the postman who is so familiar in his khaki; may be a person who used to teach us in school...
When people like this around us die, there is something gloomy about it, it sort of pinches, images of the person speaking to us, smiling at us keeps linkgering around for a while. some where in the corner of the mind we feel something lurking, some strange feeling, a fear...of some ticking clock and the futility of all it. What is it that drives us all the time, thats so fragile that our body stops working abruptly? its so scary, at the same time so very wierd!