As I am reading Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose by Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil, a question came to mind. What if the dead or dying were not actually dead? What if they were just resting for awhile? I hear people talk about after lives and someone’s past life all the time. For the longest, I didn't quite understand what it meant to have a past life or what it would be like in an after life. However during this moment in time I think I discovered the true meanings. An after life for someone could be a million times better than the life they had while still alive. After my stepfather passed away in February, I was upset yet relieved because deep down I knew that he would be able to finally focus on all the hobbies that he loved without being in pain everyday. His after life would allow him to play football, cook, draw, write, etc. without him being in excruciating pain. Now a past life to me is a life where you were a whole different person and you were just reincarnated to be either someone better or someone worse. I believe in this because in the Hindu religion, they believe in karma and reincarnation combined. If a person does something bad like murder, theft, adultery, or any other sinful crime, that person will have bad things happen back and when that person dies when or if they are reincarnated they could become horrible person again but way worse. Now this is the complete opposite of course with people who have good karma and do only good things, that person will be reincarnated to be a great leader one day or maybe even something greater than that. Now, I know you are probably thinking why I titled this the living dead. Well, the title symbolizes the whole essay, because even if you are gone on earth you aren't gone from the universe. Things always happen for a reason and I believe that dying is not something to be afraid of but something to celebrate a person's life. We celebrate birthdays because someone is getting older, if we celebrated deaths, we would be celebrating someone getting younger and theoretically living longer. Hope this gives you something to really think about and process and always celebrate the dead as if everyday was the day of the dead or commonly known as Halloween.