The Fraility of Life
By: Daniel Applegate, President
October 15, 2008
For those of us who have tenure or longevity in cemetery or funeral home operations, the finality and devastation of death is something that we witness almost daily and consequently are quite familiar with. Whether it is a long, protracted illness or an abrupt and sudden ending, the finality of death is a shocking, confusing and terrible blow for survivors who are left to confront the cold reality of the loss of a loved-one.
As an organization, we have been reminded quite vividly just how final and devastating death can be. Our Executive Vice President, Julie Hoffman, died on September 5th as the result of complications related to a ruptured brain aneurysm that she had suffered just days earlier.
Julie had been employed at Arlington for 15 years and was responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of the administrative department. She also served as the de facto operations accountant, responsible for practically anything that had a 
number associated with it. Her expertise and familiarity with Arlington was second to none and to say that her passing leaves a gaping hole in the company is a vast understatement. The loss of her expertise, however, is really only secondary to the loss of her mere presence and the positive influence of her unique personality. Julie’s innate sense of humor, combined with her lightness, was matched only by her natural insightfulness and ability to think and act clearly, quickly and responsibly. Her sheer joy for life, her love of people and her dedication to Arlington, especially to those Arlington families that we are so privileged to serve, was legendary in our office. Her presence was joyful; her absence is haunting. She is and will be missed.
Here at Arlington, we hardly needed lessons on the meaning of death; nevertheless, Julie’s passing has served to personalize and underscore the paralyzing and inconsolable pain that death brings. As we suffer through the aftermath of our loss, our heart tells us that our pain is unique. Upon reflection, however, logic reminds us that our sense of loss, as terible as it is, is a common human condition shared by all survivors; this is merely our story.
Within our story though, there is a compelling, and perhaps innocent, lesson even amongst all of our pain and confusion. It’s a life lesson, a simple formula for living really, but one that epitomized the essence of Julie’s being: live to love and love to live. It's how she lived her life and why she touched and enriched the lives of so many others. And, it’s a lesson we would all do well to learn because, as survivors, we understand the harsh reality that life is fleeting - and oh so frail.