Immortality

"The first condition of immortality is death."

Stanislaw J. Lee

I love this quote. A heady reminder that to achieve eternity one must lose their most precious possession; their life. Is it a fair trade? Is it one I would make? All novelists writing about vampires much address the issue of immortality with their vampires: is it a gift or a curse? In the last episode of TruBlood, Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse are walking past the cemetery where his wife and children are buried. How strange and disconnecting that must be?

I once asked my husband Marvin what if you could live forever? We were walking through the historic district of my hometown one summer night and the topic naturally turned to vampires. His response was so touching. He said that he would have a hard time watching his two children grow older than him and then die. Not being a parent I had never thought about it. In the natural order of things, most children do outlive their parents. To watch them age, suffer and then die much be surreal indeed and lend such a sense of disconnect to your life.

For a vampire, it must be so strange and sad to watch your mortal family do the same. In Immortal Obsession, one of the vampires is faced with his offspring begging him for eternal life when she is faced with her own death. When she is turned by another vampire, she forever carries a grudge against her father for refusing to give her such a great gift. This impacts his life in present day New York. The consequences of our actions and our decisions.

What would you do if given the chance at immortality? Be honest.