Last Sunday, I got up at 9. After a quick wash and brush I went out for breakfast. Walking along the pavement I passed two elderly men, who were chatting. Approaching them I overheard part of their conversation.

One of them asked, “I have not seen Lao Li for some time. Where has he gone?”

The other replied, “Oh, Lao Li died a couple of weeks ago.”

There was no trace of surprise or shock on their faces or in their tones. It gave me the impression that death was just a normal thing to them.

Their reaction to death helped me rethink my attitude to it. As a teenager, I always associate the word death with adjectives such as dark, negative and minus. The two elderly men have experienced so much that death is just part of their being.

As I grow older and know more about the world, I may react to death the way the two elderly men did. Now I still dread the word, however. This encounter has helped me to appreciate my beautiful life more. I should make full use of it and live happily and productively.