Reply #14: I prefer Oscar Wilde's last words (perhaps apocryphal) [View All]

"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

Few of us will enjoy the privilege of an elaborate, "reasoned" death, though we can intellectualize and spin about it as much as we want during our lifetimes. It's often an ugly affair up close, especially when it's someone we love. The body shuts down bit by bit physically and mentally, and we stand by helplessly awaiting the end. That's why our youth- and pleasure-loving culture tries to deny and ignore death, as well as to isolate those who are dying--as if the living could somehow be granted a reprieve or even immortality if they turned away.

My hat is off to all hospice workers who face the reality of death every day and keep going back for more. The kindnesses they show the dying are nothing less than heroic. I don't know how they do it, but they're high on my list for financial support.