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March 06, 2010

Comments

Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama

A beautifully written post about such a controversial topic where your last sentence said it perfectly!

K. Smith


>>If I had to choose between my mother's widowhood and Mary's, I'd choose Mary's -- and by that, I certainly don't mean to imply that I hope my husband contracts a terminal disease and then commits physician-assisted suicide. I want those Final Gifts, that last goodbye, that moment of knowing this is the end of your body but not the end of our love.>>

Well, yes. A peaceful death surrounded by your loved ones is what is sometimes called a "good death". Of course everyone wants to be able to say a final good-bye, rather than to have a loved one die suddenly. The question is, is it necessary to have one's spouse killed by a "death with dignity" organization in order to have a "good death"? The questions are complex, but I think may people are too comfortable with the idea that "he couldn't hold a phone, therefore he had no quality of life."

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Hi, I received this site from a tweet. Glad I came over I find it very interesting. Think I will also tweet this to my followers.. Thanks again

Wilhelmina Loree

11 years ago, my three brothers and I were present before, during, and after the "assisted suicide" of our mom of 82 years. Her conscious living and dying has been a sacred gift to me, her daughter.

Mary and Craig had to leave their country, the U.S., so Craig could have a dignified death in a hotel room in Switzerland. My mom died peacefully in her own country, The Netherlands, in her own bed with her 4 children and doctor of 40 years present.

When we love a person, like a mom or husband, we want to honor their wishes. My mom felt with the diagnosis of liver cancer how the cancer spread from her liver to her breasts and into her brain. All the organs, except her heart, began to stop working. After she woke up from her coma, she knew that she was towards the end of her "long journey."

In the early morning hours of her dying day (the intervention would take place at 7 pm), she asked me to give her a Reiki treatment. As I put my Reiki hands on her, I felt her waning and my waxing life energies merge. My mom appeared to enter a transition of wonderment and stillness, continuing to guide my brothers and I with her dying.

The sacred gift is that my mother died as she had lived; she had served her family and community with love, dignity, respect and compassion.

I am grateful for programs like PBS Frontline and our American organization Compassionate Dying with Dignity. Education and the sharing of personal experiences are essential to inform all of us.

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