‘I’ve seen many, many people smiling and talking and looking pretty good...but they have a chronic condition or 3...and die the next day.’
I’ve seen that too. But in such cases the family doesn’t gather for a death vigil. Rather, they express shock, and say they wish they’d known the end was so near.
You wrote:
People said he looked bad in that photo, but he certainly didn’t look like he was at death’s door.
Nothing more...nothing less.........