I know death is a depressing subject, but something happened on my way to work this morning I want to write about. As I was driving to my office, I noticed someone had just hit a possum that was trying to cross the road. The bad thing about this poor creature was that it was still alive and dazed. It was just sitting there with blood flowing from its eyes and mouth; my heart began to swell with pity. Initially, I told myself that I needed to continue to the office, but then I rationalized that this was a sentient creature capable of suffering and deserved for someone to help ease its pain. So, with tears forming in my eyes, I called my office to tell them that I was going to be late and then called my roommate to ask for his help. When we returned to the scene, it was too late, for someone else had, by that time, finished the job. The little possum lay dead in the middle of Princess Anne Road in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mourning the loss of a possum may seem silly to some, but I believe recognizing the suffering of another living being (regardless of whether it’s an animal or a human) and in turn acknowledging and responding to the product of suffering, pain, speaks of something deeper. This is to say that while death comes to all living things, we, as conscientious people, should work to ease the suffering of all injured creatures we happen to run upon, especially when death is imminent as a result of an injury. What makes me sad about the little possum of today is that before it died, it suffered and no one came to its rescue. May he or she rest in peace.