Sometimes a few words convey a paragraph or more . When my 84 year old mother had some health problems which became more than things modern science could fix right up ( and every reader will one day reach that point no matter where modern science goes ) she said that she feared she was going to die , and she said : " So soon " . If an 84 year old woman born before WWII and living a full life could meet the first serious danger to her corporal existence with the lament " so soon " , I judge that no measure of days would ever satisfy any one of us . For each of us , no matter how delayed , the end will be met with " so soon " .

Why did the grandmother respond this way to the question ?
She was legitimately fearful of her impending death .