Spring 1945 my great grandfather walked me to see the cows being hand-milked in a barn next to Pevensey Castle.

Within months he died, my first experience of death in the family, making me aware of our mutual mortality. Acceptance came later.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

• Personally, I’m still working on denial. But it’s getting harder.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

• When I found out that mortal was a word.
Erica Athan, Melbourn..., Victoria, Australia

• On reading D H Lawrence’s poem, Ship of Death, in my early 20s, as I took to heart the phrase “we are dying,we are dying, we are all of us dying”. This was reinforced at 55, when I accepted I was unlikely to have a repeat of all those years to enjoy.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia

• I’ll let you know when I can no longer deny that I’m not.
Louis Robertson, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

• When I agreed to take this earthly form on this samsaric cycle.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US

• Wait ... I’m going to die?
Maurice Trapp, Le Vigan, France

• When I had my first near-death experience: a plane crash into the trees on the edge of an airport.
Edward P Wolfers, Austinmer, NSW, Australia

Until the day the doctor tells you: you need chemotherapy.
Maria Linke, Munich, Germany

• I’m still coming to terms with it.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia

• It must be made to fit just in case.
Adrian Cooper, Queens Park, NSW, Australia

• It fiddles around a lot.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada

• It plucks up courage to attend a gym and cycling adds another string to its bow.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia

• By vibrational dances to its own tunes.
Paul Broady, Christchurch, New Zealand

• By playing, playing, playing – and keeping an eye on the scales.
John Geffroy, Las Vegas, New Mexico, US

• Regular trips to the body shop for tune-ups that keep the strings taut.
Heddi Lersey, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

• By playing Irish music every day.
Peter Stone, Paddington, NSW, Australia

• By always trying to keep one step ahead of the taxman.
Rhys Winterburn, Perth, Western Australia

• Only insofar as people love to save: specifically, the world’s natural resources.
Gregory Forth, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

On balance, do social media create or destroy relationships?
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France

When does hyperbole turn into a lie?
John Geffroy, Las Vegas, New Mexico, US

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