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Episode 187 How will death
come?
This is retirement talk. I’m
Del Lowery.
“Figure out how you think you
might die and you are almost guaranteed that it will not happen that way”. I
read that line in a book perhaps twenty years ago. I don’t recall the name of
the book but I do remember the line. The book was written by some doctor who
had studied death and dying. He made a believer out of me. As we age we keep
hearing about friends or even strangers that die and it reminds us that we are
a bit closer to our own death than the day before.
Considering one’s own death
has to be natural and universal. I’m not sure all animals can do it or even if
any animals can. I recall seeing a wildebeest selectively shot amidst a heard
on the plains of the Serengeti in Kenya. The other animals seemed to pay it no
mind as it dropped dead. They continued to graze until we approached in our
land rover. I’ve always wondered if humans are the only animals that can contemplate
our own mortality.
I guess if one were to create
a list all of the different ways one might die that list would be very long
indeed. It makes sense that we would more likely than not miss predicting the
ultimate method or cause for an individual person, ourselves included.
The only person I ever knew
who predicted his own death in a certain manner and saw it come to fruition was
the father of a student of mine in Alaska. He developed an inoperable brain
tumor at age 81 and quickly decided to take his own life. He had prepared for
this act for many years as a member of the Hemlock Society.
For sure he did not prepare
for the tumor on the brain but he did accept and prepare for his own death.
When the end became emanate he did not hesitate to implement his own demise.
He called his children who
lived far away. They flew home and goodbyes were said. He arranged a piece of
plastic, duct tape, a plastic tube, a small container of helium. He purchased
two video cameras to document the event for legal reasons. He asked his
children to turn on the video cameras and leave the room for at least an hour.
They sat in their car and waited. Then they went to a coffee shop/book store
and talked. When they returned the cameras had shut off and the room was
silent.
Life should be a focus on
living rather than dying. Peter spent a great deal of time worried about death
that ultimately came in a most serene way. The doctor probably had it right in
that we are most assured of missing the prediction of how any of us might die. We
may as well have another glass of wine.
This is Retirement Talk.
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