Tiger Lily

The longer your life goes on,
the more death you face.

~ Patrick Swayze
American – Actor August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009

Porte Ponderings:

As Patrick Swayze said, the longer you live the more death you face.

It never gets easier to watch friends and loved ones die. Sudden death is the biggest shock for the survivors. My Mother’s death was the biggest shock as she died from a sudden cardiac arrest. She was literally here one moment, talking with me on the phone, then the next thing I knew the doctor was telling me she had died.

Other deaths have been less dramatic, with my Father slowly dying of cancer and waiting for the end.

Recently with the introduction of MAID, Medical Assistance in Dying, people can now choose to cut the long wait of terminal illness and pick their date with death. My brother-in-law chose this path when he was faced with cancer of the tongue. Diagnosed to late to be treated without major life altering effects, he chose to not have treatment. The day before his date with death he had all of his family over to visit and say goodbye.

A recent statistic announced said that 7% of deaths in Quebec are now MAID. More people aren’t dying because of MAID, but are arranging their death date using MAID and ending their suffering.