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[quote=Anonymous]My brother died when he was 15 and my mother was able to find profound comfort in the idea that she will once again be reunited with him.

I was not able to find that comfort. I believe he is gone and it definitely changed the flavor of my grief (though we certainly both grieved him, her heart will likely never heal).

I was a burgeoning atheist before he died (who was raised Catholic and was a philosophy and religious studies major). My grief, and my inability to find any peace in what my mother believed, told me that I truly did not believe. What I was beginning to suspect after a deep educational and religious self examination was confirmed via an experience that brought all my true convictions to light.

I find one PP's assertion that an atheist coming to this forum is proof of the void. I would say there is a (at least fairly) universal void in the human experience and that is a quest for meaning. For some people, this void is filled by God, for me, it is filled with a gratitude for having won a statistical lobby and been gifted with existence. It is knowing that what I do with this gift is what defines me, and that I can show my gratitude by making a positive impact on this world and the people in it. And it gives me the confidence to treasure every single minute/second that I have because one day my minutes will run out.

As for the original question. I feel very strongly the human compulsion to hold on very tightly to life. The idea of leaving this world feels like the most intense version of not being invited to a party you want to attend. But I believe that I will be able to accept death with a fair amount of grace if I know that I saw as much as this world as I could, soaked it in and appreciated its beauty, and if I know that I loved as much as I could and served as an example for my peers and children and (hopefully) grandchildren. It doesn't erase the anxiety of knowing I won't see them all grow up, but it helps me to be at peace with it.

Of course this is all theoretical, who knows how you feel at the end until you are at the end?[/quote]

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