None of us know the hour of our death, and I certainly hope that Kaycee will out-live me! None of us can totally plan how that death will happen, either. We might picture being with a certain loved one with hymns being played, but that just might not happen. Why not consider it, though? What do we picture as the ideal support for us and our loved ones during that transition?
The reality is that we all die. It's absolutely fine for someone to make a conscious decision not to plan for that event - if they are doing so from a place of peace and not fear. It's also absolutely fine to think about what the ideal circumstances would be for us.
At our hospice we have run the gammit - from patients who want to take that last trip to Los Vegas before they die, we've seen marriages to life long partners performed by the hospice chaplain, people who want to die in their comfy easy chair, folks who want to be sedated at the end, and those who silently slip away holding their loved ones hand. The stories are remarkable.
So remarkable, that I include in my schedule giving classes and talks to schools and organizations to help get the word out that there is a middle ground. The end of life doesn't have to be either the impersonal, painful hospital or Dr. Kevorkian.
Peace - and the power of personal choice - is possible.
