Saturday, August 23, 2008

"War Over Shoes And Toilets"

"This is the day my mother has chosen to die, and the toilets need to be spotless."
Hardly your typical weekend fare, but it's essential reading.

How does a household cope with a (terminally ill) family member's decision to be euthanized? (Via Digg)

I can't even begin to imagine what such a decision would mean to family and friends. Would it feel like murder? Would you feel weak for not having been able to convince the person to live? And assuming you were able to convince that person, would you be able to watch the person deal with the physical and mental pain of the terminal illness?

Would you be filled with love and kindness for a person just because you knew he or she was dying? And aren't we all dying? If so, why isn't there love and kindness in our hearts all the time? Do you look at every human you meet and think "you are dying and so am I, so let's just be kind and loving with each other"?

Just why on earth are we squabbling over shoes and toilets?

4 comments:

Space Bar said...

all deja vu. it's not possible, this controlling and hoping for more peace.

i think a part of it is the inability of those who are in good health to understand exactly what is happening in the bodies of those who are close to death. this irritation-inducing behaviour sounds so familiar!

Anonymous said...

Um..I see that article does mention shoes. So that remark about squabbling over shoes was not aimed at me ;)

km said...

lekhni: Depends. Did you remind a certain someone this morning to not leave the toilet seat up? :D

space bar: ah, the irritation.

Anonymous said...

km: No, I have given up long ago :) Separate bathrooms are the way to go!