Life is a terminal illness...so what's the problem

In otherwords, everything that lives, dies. Some feel that the minute you are born you start dying. I feel that yes, there is some point when you physiologically have more decay than growth occuring... I guess that would be "mid life". While I don't want to know when I hit that stage (or maybe I already have), I do believe that dying is as natural as being born.

The social stigmas and cultural mores around birth and death are so vastly different, yet the biological process are very similar, just in mirror image. Why is birth a joyful occasion, and death such a sad time? Why are there five different versions of "what to expect when you are expecting, in the first year, etc.", when there is no book on Barnes and Noble shelves called "What to expect when you are dying?". Why do we need to whisper and be sad around people who are terminal, but we are loud and boisterous around a new born who has much of the same needs (sleep, eat, eliminate)? Why are people proud to buy Pampers, but ashamed to buy Depends?

I have two good friends who are in the process of losing a very important person in their life to cancer. A father, who has seen a long, good life, and the other, a best friend whose life is just at theat midpoint if not for disease.

Having lost both my parents and a sibling before I turned 37, I understand the deep grief these two friends are experiencing. I wish I could turn it upside down and help them celebrate the joy that these people have added to their lives. I wish we could sign happy songs at funerals, or for that matter, skip the stupid funeral and have a party! Regardless of whether or not you believe in the afterlife... why not celebrate the dead?

I really wonder why humans feel sad when someone dies. Aside from a few higher primates, most of our fellow members of the animal kingdom don't mourn the loss of a pack or family member. And if anyone says that they saw grief if the eyes of the penguin in "March of the penguins" - I say "Bah - that mama was wondering if that frozen chick was food or a rock."

Is this a social thing, or a genetic thing? I know some people who would dismiss this question as being cold hearted and even cruel... Trust me, I miss my mom, dad and brother terribly... Were they young? Yes. Did it feel tragic? Yes! But it's not like they weren't eventually going to die anyway... we all do!