I think the option of doctor-assisted suicide should be available to those who might want or need it.
DuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUuuuude... why so pessimistic...? Couldn't you at least say 10... or maybe 5...? Sheesh.
BOTH OF MY PARENTS. Both at home. My father when I was 14 (39 now), and my mother almost two years ago. Yeeesh, I know you are supposed to be there out of respect but man I gotta tell you it is brutual to watch someone you love die. Holding her hand as she took her last breath will haunt me until the day I die. If it were up to me, I wouldn't want my kids around when it is my turn.
Its hard for me to think about. My Grandmother passed on when I was 14, but she had been really sick for a year and we all knew she didn't have much time left. We all gathered in Phoenix that Christmas and knew it would be kind of "the last one." She went later in May and it wasn't that hard on me for some reason. However, my Grandfather is now nearing his time and it kills me just to think about that imminent moment. He was diagnosed with Lung Cancer last year and his health and mental state have been deteriorating ever since. They had got most of it, but last week I got a call from my mom and he had suffered a minor heart attack and the cancer appears to be spreading. I've made it a point to spend a lot of time with him over the past couple years even though he's 1000 miles away I visit him whenever I can. He's the most important man in my life since my father abandoned me and my stepfather and I never accepted each other. When he passes on it will be hard, but I know I'd rather see him go peacefully than have to suffer daily through this ****ing cancer for years and years. I've let him know how much he's meant to me and thats the important thing I suppose.
Yes, I have. My father. My grandfather. As you can imagine, it is devastating. I hope you don't have to experience something like that, giddy.
It will more likely be my wife, as they are her parents and her grandmother and I'll probably end up keeping the kids occupied when things get critical. I do hope it is some time off, but they lost a same-aged cousin just last week. It was a shock for them and it brought it home for us. Mrs. G's mom spent 3 months in the hospital clearing out a MRSA infection that she got from surgery for her breast cancer. She also has Parkinson's Disease. Mrs. G's dad is having surgery next week for colon cancer. They found 18 polyps on exam and won't know how serious things are until after the surgery... but 18 is a lot! He's also surviving a quadruple by-pass surgery. Mrs. G's grandmother is the last living of seven sisters who are somehow distantly related to Jerry West... She's in pretty good health but she is 92 years old!! She had a heart-attack 41 years ago!! Also, just last week my ex-Mother-in-Law of whom I am very fond went in to see her doctor complaining of light-headedness or something. Upon examination, they took her by ambulance to the hospital on a Friday and performed a quadruply by-pass on her Monday of last week. Another friend of mine from church had a minor heart attack just last Friday. I'm feeling kind of crowded by Death...
I don't handle death well at all. In 2004 when my family found out suddenly that my mom's sister had been killed, I was severely depressed for six months. When I think back, I'm amazed at my transformation. I went from a happy, hopeful 17 year-old who loved church and friends into a moody cynic. I don't think I've recovered completely. I mean, I know it was tragic and brutal, my aunt stabbed to death by her new husband, but it scares me how much it still affects me. It really will be awful when my parents go. They're 59 and 58 right now so it's not like its that close, but I'm always asking them if they took their vitamins, cholesterol medicine, etc. It would kill me to lose them, especially my mom. I'm really close to her. I try not to think about it. Yet I can't stop. Life can be here today and gone tomorrow.
