[wdfifteen]

I've only witnessed the deaths of two people. One was a woman in a car accident and the other was my mother.
The body of the woman in the car was obviously broken. The trauma to her body seemed irreversible. It's like a vessel was smashed and the contents couldn't be saved. It made sense.
I once read an essay about a muskrat that had fallen into an empty swimming pool. The writer watched as someone shot it to death, then described in great technical detail what happened to the animal's body as it died. I can apply that to the death of the woman in the car. I understand disconnected nerve circuitry and obliterated organs.
But I wonder about the technical details of someone dying of "natural causes." I would really like to know what happens. My mom was just lying there. Apparently the chemical magic that makes our bodies function had gotten out of whack, but it wasn't obvious. She looked just fine - a little pale and thin, but not broken. It seemed like all we had to to was bring the chemicals back into balance and it would have been OK. It didn't make sense. I need to find an essay like the one about the muskrat.