Death with dignity
One of my greatest fears is not death itself, but going through such a decline that I become nothing but an emotional and financial burden on my family. Losing my mind. Forgetting my loved ones — or worse, becoming violent toward them.
I don’t have a suicidal bone in my body, yet I daydream about how I might off myself if faced with that sort of prognosis. Jump off something tall? Pills? VSED? Is there a modern-day Dr. Kevorkian out there somewhere?
Wouldn’t it be nice if medicine offered us a cleaner way out, once we start taking the first steps down that lowly path? An option that would let us go out on our own terms, while we’re still ourselves, able to put our affairs in order and give proper farewells? An option that wouldn’t leave our families either with a husk of a human or the trauma of a suicide?
Oregon has a Death with Dignity Act, but to qualify you need to be expected to die in less than six months. Meanwhile, I know people suffering from advanced amnesia who go on living like that for a decade or more.
Sorry for the morbid post. I’ll end on a more positive topic. I’m going to New York next week for work, and I’m excited about it! Life is so busy these days that I almost relish a day spent in airports and on planes. They offer a sanctuary of sorts from the daily grind. I look forward to writing a post or three with my time.