'Modalities' seems like a missing piece, addressing some very various ways to think about mortality. Some will appeal more than others.

One of the most affecting musical evocations is this from Amanda Palmer, which we saw her do live as the last in a remarkable evening of conversation with Christopher Lydon:

and here's a live version:

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Kate reminds me to include this, from Raymond Briggs' Time For Lights Out:

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Does it HELP to know how something works, the mechanics and biochemistry of life? Yes for some, TMI for others. Some years ago (in Science Librarian days) I did a bunch of work on apoptosis (that's apo-TO-sis), usually glossed as "programmed cell death" and considered one of the central elements in the biochemistry of life. Wikipedia tells us that the average adult loses (i.e., replaces) 50-70 billion cells per day: cells have 'use-by dates', and those that outlive their date may "pass on faulty machinery to progeny, increasing the likelihood of the cell's becoming cancerous or diseased."

• the inhibition of apoptosis leads to cancers, inflammatory diseases, viral infections (an insufficiency leads to uncontrolled cell proliferation, viz. cancer)
• hyperactive apoptosis leads to neurodegenerative, hematologic, and tissue damage diseases ("there is an inverse epidemiological comorbidity between neurodegenerative diseases and cancer... The progression of HIV is directly linked to excess, unregulated apoptosis")

  Apoptosis is becoming recognized as a fundamental component of the immune system, i.e., in its development and its regulation. It is involved in many diverse areas that fall into two broad categories: firstly, the development and shaping of the immune receptor repertoire and, secondly, immune effector mechanisms. (GT Williams Role of apoptosis in the immune system)

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  (go to Start page, to Black Box, to The Hole Left Behind,
  No Where, to Preparation, to Realizations)