Great piece, Stephanie. Despite the approximately one million times I've almost died in the last eight years due to severe chronic illness, I still don't fully accept the notion of death, though I am less afraid of it now. I've also pondered death so much over these years that I frankly have gotten sick of it. Now I focus on life, even when I feel like death. Not everyone gets the pleasure (sarcasm) of confronting their mortality as often as I have, as least here in the Western world. It's certainly allowed for more gratitude for whatever I do have and has made me live life more purposefully.