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It's Not You, It's Me... Well, It's THEM - #1000SPEAK
ANGER AND THE ART OF COMPASSION I am tired. Prior to this past few weeks I was not one for self-disclosure full-scale but today I am fed up. I have had it. DONE. As many know from what I have...
View ArticleLessons Learned from Fran – Dying Well
Lessons Learned from Fran – Dying Well I knew Fran for over 30 years. She was a dear woman but somewhat cat-like in that she was reserved and self-contained. For all those years that I knew her, into...
View ArticleIn Landmark Ruling, Canada to Allow Assisted Suicide
In Landmark Ruling, Canada to Allow Assisted Suicide | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for
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Death, Dying & the Grey Zone
Death-and-dying usually goes with I-don’t-want-to-talk about-it. Katy Butler wants us to talk about it. She worries, though, about the culture of death-denial, and about the lack of language when we...
View ArticleA Keepsake for the Ages
When the phone rings and a voice says that they would like to request some memory bears, I know that
View ArticleHERE’S MY PLAN FOR DYING!
HERE’S MY PLAN FOR DYING! Message to my family: Hopefully, I will have time to put all the following into place, but if not, please complete any overlooked details. Please reference my existing...
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Silent Tide
Puget Sound, Fort Worden In the year after we moved into our building, we never met the reclusive white-haired woman down the hall, and then she was carried away on a stretcher and didn’t come back....
View Article'Assisted death is the compassionate, merciful and right thing' (with video)
With the defining battle of his political life now won, Conservative MP Steven Fletcher will be able to die, someday, in peace. “Yes, I think it does give me peace of mind,” Fletcher said in an...
View ArticleIllness is our birthright
From AN 5.57, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi: Bhikkhus, there are these five themes that should often be reflected upon by a woman or a man, by a householder or one gone forth. What five? [second of the...
View ArticleDad's Heart Attack
Dad’s Heart Attack The last time I wrote that dad had just had a heart attack. In this post, I will
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The Art of Dying
Today while reading an article in the New Yorker about letting go, I discovered that in medieval times, there were books called Ars moriendi or The Art of Dying in English, which were immensely popular...
View ArticleAnticipating Death
Whether announced or like a thief at midnight, death comes calling. A sudden death is the cruelest a
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"Being Mortal" Airs Tonight
“The two big unfixables are aging and dying…you can’t fix those.” — Atul Gawande Editor’s note: PBS airs a documentary tonight based on Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal. It promises to be a candid and...
View ArticleLetters: Coming to terms with Supreme Court decision on right to die
I would like to suggest that any normal person who is afflicted with “ a grievous and irremediable medical condition … that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable,” must be emotionally exhausted...
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Attending a Funeral: Mourning the Loss of a Friend AND Learning More About...
(Please note that this blog is based on real people and actual events. I am grateful to Ed’s family for granting me permission to use his real first name in this blog) One of the best things about the...
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The Cover Up 5 of 5
Recently, we helped a man move who is 80 and slow and has the beginnings of not thinking clearly or remembering very well. He upsets easily and he feels discombobulated most the time. Let me tell you –...
View ArticleJUST BE WITH H- -
It is Wednesday, May 10, 2005, 4:20 a.m., Kingsley Lake, Florida. My mother is sleeping in her hospital bed in the living room. It’s time for me to begin this book, Just Be With H_ _. JUST BE WITH...
View ArticleA Sad Vigil
People exemplify ideals–that is, all people do, at one time or another, exhibit behavior that represents the best humanity has to offer. And what might that include? Courage; compassion; unwavering...
View ArticleGood dog. My good, good dog.
Harper, my one thousand year old dog, died last night. My heart is very broken. By the time you read this, the shell of her body will have transformed: heat and light, vapor and smoke, ash and wind,...
View ArticleGrief and Literature
I have just finished reading Magda Szabo’s Iza’s Ballad. This is the Hungarian writer’s lesser known novel. Her later The Door (1987) first brought her work to the wider attention of the international...
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