Death, Life, Nothing, and Everything

My fascination with death began the first time I watched the 1991 classic My Girl. I couldn’t have been older than four- or five-years-old and I was living in a small, white town in southwest Michigan. Like Vada, the protagonist of the film, I lived in a home that was also a business. Unlike Vada, I shared my living space with a video store owned by my grandparents; she shared her living space with a funeral home directed by her father.

For those of you who have yet to watch My Girl, I’ll avoid spoilers because I believe that everyone deserves to immerse themselves…