In Conway's game of Life, if you start with a cross as the symbol of death (5x7 grid 00100/00100/11111/00100/00100/00100/00100), you get first a "gravestone", then an egg which is traditional symbol of new life and rebirth. The egg stays around forever, unchanging, perhaps waiting for the right moment (or for you to set one of the two interior pixels).
and if you then fill in the top cell inside the egg you get a (small) exploder that will create four eggs. And if you fill in again the top egg (and only the top egg), you will get a more complex pattern result in a four gliders walking off scene.
R.I.P. John Conway.