Serious question
Why are so many people afraid to use the words dying, die, died or dead when one of them is needed. The quintessential philosophical truth is that everything that lives eventually dies. Why are people so afraid to use those words?
We will all die and unless we are cremated or preserved in chemicals, we too will rot in our graves like the millions who died before us.
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was viewed as a natural event.
Today many of us are spread across the globe. When family members are getting old and sick we transfer them to homes, or hospitals or hospices. And too often we are not present to even say good bye. And this was before Covid.
Eight years ago my spouse rushed to his mother's hospital bed, half a country away. I stayed behind. She was 91, I think. And she had had enough. She even refused the technicians who came to withdraw blood.
Spouse arrived on time and she did recognize him, just "oh, wow."
Later he called me, and said: when I was young, she taught me how to walk. And now she taught me how to die. And we both choked.
You have a beautiful pot and memories from her gift. We inherited my brother's cat, who is 19 now. I expect to feel a new pang when she dies, but I'm absolutely sure he would be thrilled that she's had such a good, long life. Whenever she does something particularly cute, I find myself wanting to call him to tell him about it.
The first few years were rough for me too. I don't think I'll ever stop missing him. Hold onto those wonderful memories.
Whatever gives a person comfort is fine with me. 
I can’t imagine caring what word someone uses to describe it. The Navaho avoided even speaking of the dead.
Many cultures have very different views of death and how it’s handled.
flowers on her grave. She said she wanted all her flowers while she could see them. 
when speaking of death. He was a pastoral counselor and often said that death is normal and saying passed is a way to lessen the blow of finality. But in healing it is often necessary to address it head on. He also used to joke that Jesus didn't pass away for our sins. He freakin died! 
As an atheist I'm not fond of the word passed because of the connotation but I can understand how close family members might need to use it to lessen the blow of death.
Fear of it just being over and wrapping your head around it, it is like Torture Yourself for Dummies page 2?
One on One at least generically a subject not often breached and potentially awkward AF, and who wants that?
Some people have a hard time with any negativity or darkness?
In other words, it is complicated?
When my parents died, I told people they died. When my brother died, I told people he died. When my sister died, I told people she died. When my dogs or cats died, I told people they died. That’s what they did.
I have only said “lost” on one occasion, which was when one of our cats went missing and we really did lose him. We don’t know if he died. If he had died and we knew it, we’d have said he died.
To me, there is really no way to sugarcoat it. Death is death and it ain’t going to hurt less by saying someone passed or passed away or we lost them or they went to a better place or whatever. But that’s just me…
Thanks for your input
I think we're all just whistling past the graveyard every day....
