Well, Del, I STARTED crying about your cat, and your sadness, but then my crying drifted to thoughts about my cats, and then me, and my own middle-age crisis, proving once again that all grief is ultimately selfish.
I have nothing against Dr. Kevorkian, but it is very important to me that the PATIENT alone is deciding they have suffered enough and do not want to continue. I am afraid in a world where assisted suicide is the norm, or at least very well accepted, some people may come to EXPECT oldsters to gracefully and quickly move aside, and impatient or greedy adult children may even broach the subject or leave suggestive pamphlets lying around.
My husband, who is very funny and irreverent, has told me several times that if he ever deteriorates to the stage where (his words--I don't talk this way) he is in a wheelchair and has a piss bag, I should give him a lot of See's dark chocolates to eat as a final wonderful memory, park him on the edge of a cliff by the ocean so he can enjoy the view one last time, and then push him over the edge!!!
It would be very hard for me to do that though, obviously, and I hope he wouldn't do it to me in the same situation, as I might feel differently!!! |
