Cowards die many times, Brave men die only once

I was reading Julius Ceasar and was at the part wherein Ceasar is going to the senate to be crowned king, and on his way he is warned not to go to the meeting, fearing that some bad might happen. For that Ceasar replies very beautifully saying “cowards die many times, brave men die only once”. Meaning that ultimately every man has to die one or the other day, so fearing such an inevitable event why fear and die many times before the actual death.I just don’t know why, but I just stopped at this particular point and pondered about this famous line said by Ceasar. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the truth of this statement.
But then I just happen to relate this to the scenario wherein a patient is told by the doctor that he is suffering from a incurable disease like cancer or aids and that his days are numbered. I wondered just what might be going on in that persons mind and how would he react to that?I tried to understand what must have gone in my dad’s mind as he lay on bed suffering from liver cancer and fighting against a certain death. My dear father passed away on 24th April 2006. And still we don’t know whether he had the knowledge that he was suffering from cancer. Because we at home never told him about it and just told him that it was some problem with the liver. I don’t know whether we did the right thing by not telling him about it. Since we knew him well, we were sure that he wont be able to take the shock and would not cooperate in taking medicine and would not fight back and challenge death.
Now when I sit and think about it, I am convinced that dad had some how come to know about his state and like a brave man had accepted the fate that life had brought unto him. And what a brave man he was, that never once did he let us know that he knew about his state, and kept all his pain and agony to himself. Yes at times he used to question the will of God and state why God had put him through this, because my dad never used to drink or smoke and yet he suffered from liver cancer. Was this God’s fate or sheer bad luck ?Even more commendable is my brave mom who in spite of all the pain and agony of watching her husband lying on bed and counting his days, put up such a brave front and whenever in front of dad put on a smile on her face and took so much trouble of taking care of him and nursing him during those testing times. Hats off to you oh dear mother of mine, from you I draw courage and strength and thank the Heavenly Father for blessing me with such lovely parents.Just think about it, a person who is so near and dear to you, who is an integral part of you and you realize in few days time, he wont be there among you or part of your life. How is one expected to feel? Do we sit crying all the time thinking about it, or do we make sure that the persons last few days are filled with joy and happiness?