Memento Mori In A Time Of Pandemic

Memento Mori. Since my wife's death several years ago, I have worn two rings. One is a plain band simple inscribed with the words: "Memento Mori", a Stoic phrase that is a reminder that, sooner or later, we all die. An apocryphal story about the Roman Emperor who had a slave follow him around, repeating the phrase serves as a reminder to us all. My other ring has a skull representing death, and the same inscription, surrounding by Roman numerals representing the passage of time. Death stalks us all. Why are so many people shocked and surprised that a global pandemic will cause some of us to die? The night before my open heart surgery five years ago, I signed a consent form that notified me that 1% of persons undergoing that surgery would die in surgery. I told the physician that I was okay with those odds. Marcus Aurelius lived through the Antonine plague, which killed many Roman citizens and was brought home by soldiers coming home from fighting in the East. If he were alive today, he would counsel rational care, while recognizing that some of us will die, and to continue living life within the constraints brought to us by fate. We often say that each day is a gift. Now would be a good time to really mean it. Eat, Pray, Love today. Remember, you will die.