Originally Posted by abaya

I concur with everyone who has had to say goodbye to a loved one, especially after a long illness... no one wants to go through that again.

But what if you never had the chance to say goodbye in the first place? What if the person who died never got to say goodbye to anyone, because they died alone in a freak, sudden accident?

And what if it wasn't "before" someone died (as in, you knew they had to go through that whole suffering again), but what if it was more like a "visit," from wherever they might be now? (Not saying I believe in any afterlife whatsoever, but just for the sake of this thread.)

I still think that for me personally, if I could at least meet my father once and say hello, nice to meet you, let's spend a day getting to know each other as father and daughter, and then say goodbye... well, that would be one heckuva big deal, and worth it to me.

Not in any other situation, like where I had to watch someone die... but that one, yes. I think it's a valid exception. Is there no one else out there who feels the same way?