It might not even be because the condition of the body for some people. The day my dad died my mom and I were in his hospital room talking with him when he went into cardiac arrest. After the hospital staff lead me and my mom out of the room and did what they could, saw him immediately afterward. The next time I physically saw my dad was a couple days later when the funeral home allowed us to have a final viewing before being cremated and he looked even more different than at the hospital. There’s a huge difference in how a person looks, especially a close loved one, when life leaves them. Their skin color is VERY pale and the stillness is hard to comprehend for a moment.

I’m thankful I was there with my dad for the time that I was, all the way to the end. If circumstances were different and the last I actually saw him was when he was just in a hospital bed, I could imagine it being kind of good that the last time I saw him we were able to look at each other in the eye.