Death Is a Part of Life Death has always been a part of my life. Raised on a ranch, I became acquainted with death at an early age. Animals would perish from illness or predators. They would also die from human hands. Pigs and calves were slaughtered. Chickens had their necks wrung. (Often by the most feminine of lady folks.) All so we could have meat on the table. Human death was no stranger to my childhood either.