Normally, I link without commentary aside from brief quips or quotes.
My links lead to much commentary and other links- use them all, and you will "get it," if you do not already.
FWIW:
To: MHGinTN
Wow! You've compiled quite a file, backhoe. You've given me weeks of reading to do. Thanx, I think. Still pondering whether to write 'a book' on Terri's plight. Sounds like several are already hard at work with the story.
Thank you, Marvin... quite aside from the inherent merits of the case, it has a special signifigance for me-- you may recall that my late first wife was a quadriplegic.
Had her neck been broken one level of vertebrae higher, she could not have breathed on her own. Some would claim her life was not worth living, yet for eight years we had a very full and fine life together, until a stroke carried her away. The first time ever I saw her, and heard her voice, I knew she was the woman I was born to be with, forever.
My female self... the "Other Side of Midnight." I being the Midnight, of course- she was the Sun. We each knew what the other would say before the words were formed in our mouths.
We had it all, "Just Like Bogie & Bacall..." for a while. For far too short a while.
And, like couples who do trust each other, and talk about the things of life both dire and trivial, we had discussed what to do with each other in Terri-like situations, and she did not want to live with worse handicaps. And bear in mind this was nearly thirty years ago- there is nothing new under the Sun...
When the time came, it was clear ( although not easy, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done ) what to do about disconnecting life support.
A strong man will live about 10 minutes without oxygen... it took her a half hour to die, while I cuddled her and wept. She was very, very strong until the end. And yes, when I picked her up that last time in the funeral home and laid her in her casket, a great part of me went into that cold dark hole in the ground, never to be seen again.
I wrote these words not long after:
Upon the wings of endless light
My Love and my Life were swept away
into a night
a cold, still night
that some fools swear is day...
...and I swear too,
and damn the Light
that took my child from me
and pray that in her endless flight
my Babe still dreams of me...
My point being not to aggrandize myself- many others have lived through similar circumstances- but to say that I know of things I do not always mention here or elsewhere. There is more to me than meets the eye.
If Terri had left written instructions about her wishes, or spoken of them to a trustworthy person ( certainly not her less-than-loyal spouse ) I would have had no problem if she had clearly not wanted to live like that.
But she didn't, and she was forced to die, under the color of "law & authority," for being an inconvenient woman.
All it takes for you or I- or someone we love- to walk that same dark mile is a little bad luck, and living in a state where the Death Cult has jiggered the laws to its favor. Nothing more.
We are all potentially useless eaters, now.
That's how I see it, anyway, and I will not change. Silence me, hector me, banish me-- but I will remain adamant and immovable about this. When there is doubt?
Choose life.
And on an even more personal note?
The current Mrs. B used to belong to the "I just don't want to live like that" school-- but Terri's case changed all that- now, she tells me to keep her alive, regardless. And while that is contrary to what I would want for myself- for her, I'd do it.
I am her Avatar upon this evil and broken old Earth, and once again, I have promises to keep...
200 posted on
05/09/2005 5:07:29 AM EDT by
backhoe (-30-)
