Death Takes A Holiday

I was talking with a friend the other day and he mentioned the recent flooding in the northeast. Then he repeated a news story he heard about a girl who was trapped on her front porch by the flood waters when the house behind her collapsed and killed her. And then he said the oddest thing. "Too bad it had to happen around the holiday."

I did a mental double-take and began thinking about that. It's a shame he/she had to die around the holidays is actually a fairly common phrase. So much so that people rarely think about what is being said.

Are they saying it's a shame the deceased is going to miss the holiday? And then what? It's O.K. to die on July 5th? But thank God she saw the fireworks! Has anyone ever said, "Well at least he didn't die during the holidays"?

Or are they saying it's a shame the deceased had to ruin the holiday for the rest of us? "Cause, like, dead people are a downer, man." If that's the case, I think that may be bordering on insensitive. Besides, I have a lot of living relatives who are perfectly capable of ruining the holidays. Thank you very much.

Which leads me to wonder how far we should take this people shouldn't ruin holidays for others with their own death sentiment? I mean, I understand how Mom dying can make the turkey taste a little dry, or choosing a miniature coffin for Tiny Tim might make your new Gameboy seem trivial. But what about minor holidays? Like Arbor Day or Groundhog Day? Is there a point where the holiday and someone's death don't compete? Is it O.K. to die on April Fools Day?

I keep hearing how depressing the holidays are anyway. Isn't that just as good a time as any to deal with a family death? Why get all bummed out twice? And next year you'll have a double reason for your depression. Hell, at that rate, weird Uncle Bob can piss the family off for years. It's like a gift that keeps on giving.

Finally, I was wondering how many holidays actually celebrate death?

• New Years Day -- the death of the old year
• Martin Luther King Day -- I'm not sure if this celebrates his birthday or commemorates the day of his death, but either way, we wouldn't have the holiday if he had survived his untimely death.
• Lincoln's Birthday -- dead president
• Valentines Day -- death of bachelorhood and finished sentences
• President's Day -- more dead presidents
• Washington's Birthday -- dead president
• St. Patrick's Day -- dead saint
• Easter -- Dead Son of God
  
• Tax Day -- dead checkbook
• Mother's Day -- yeah, my Mom ruined this one
• Memorial Day -- let me think now
• Flag Day -- war dead
• Father's Day -- you guessed it, the insensitive bastard.
• Independence Day -- more dead soldiers
• Columbus Day -- dead Italian, dead Indians
• Halloween -- all things dead and rotting
• Veteran's Day -- more dead soldiers
• Thanksgiving -- dead turkeys

That's kind of creepy isn't it? So I was wondering, since so many holidays celebrate death, why is it a bad thing to die around the holidays?

I guess it is because holidays are for the living. But then, doesn't that make it ironic that death is the ultimate holiday?