The Rev thinks I should post again about Terri Schiavo, but really, I can't find much to say. The whole spectacle leaves me mute with astonishment. The very idea that "honorable" congressmen would subpoena someone in a vegetative state, and then make plans to troop into her hospital room for a hearing... It makes me feel nothing less than sorrow for Terri and all of her family, including her husband.
I've already spoken once about my grandma's death and the decisions behind it. I still miss her very much, and do not look back on that last week of her life with fondness. It was horrible, and it was damned hard to get through. Now, I realize it could have been infinitely harder, had some well-meaning people taken it upon themselves to "save" her. I try to imagine crowds of protestors on the lawn of her seniors' apartment complex, or people attempting a "symbolic" break-in, or Randall Terry showing up in her bedroom to tell her why she should go back on dialysis. (That last image also includes my Great-Aunt Ruth kicking his rear out the door; even at 85 she was a tough broad.)
We had a few things in our favor--my grandma's ability to make the decision while she was still lucid, a doctor and family who respected that choice, and, most of all, privacy. I see now what a difference it made, and how without it, her passing would have been so much more traumatic for everyone involved. Set aside the strain of having your most private, personal decision questioned by total strangers. We also wouldn't have had the solace that comes with knowing you helped to make someone's passing easier. And believe me, it was a solace.
That's what really bothers me. The things that would help her family get through this time--privacy, dignity, respect--are ignored in favor of acrimony and competition. It's no way to die.
