question and answer...

So...remember when I was kind of an entertaining blogger? You know. The good ol' days when school and crazy life business didn't get in the way of me being able to bring you a post at least four times a week? Yep. Those were fun times. I was struggling today with what to write about. I want to get back into the regular habit of blogging...and then it clicked! I need to do a 'The Book of Questions' post! Are you new around here? Well here is the introductory post...you can read that and then click on the 'Book of Questions' label at the bottom of this post if you are so inclined to see ALL of these posts. On we go...

And I flipped the book to...

Question #45: Someone very close to you is in pain, paralyzed, and will die within a month. He begs you to give him poison so that he can die. Would you? What if it were your father?

Answer: Um. Well that is a feel good question if I have ever heard one. It is times like this when I wish I could break my own rule and flip to a different question. But alas I am a control freak...and I must abide by the rules...

This is a tough question. It is like 'Million Dollar Baby' tough (have you all seen that movie? um. devastating). I fully believe in doctor assisted suicide. I think it is a persons right to choose, while in the right mind set, if they would want to live or die if they are in a medical situation such as the one in the question. I personally would not want to live in pain, and be paralyzed in bed for a month or months on end. That is MY opinion on that.

However, when it comes to doing that for someone else...I do not think I could do it. I do have a little experience in this area. As many of my blog friends know, my dad passed away from cancer in November. During the last two weeks of his life he was in a hospital bed at home, where he couldn't move, eat, or really speak. It was shocking to see this once boisterous ball busting man diminished to 70-something pounds. He was in pain despite the medication. It was a horrible thing to see. All any of us wanted to do was to make the whole ordeal be over as quickly as possible. If I would have been brave enough I maybe would have considered helping him pass, but as it was the only thing I could do was kiss his forehead and whisper to him, "Dad, we are all here. We love you. It is okay to go. Please go. It's okay now."

There is no chance that I could have ended his life for him, even if he was able to beg me to do so. Did I want his pain to end? Of course. But I just could not live with the knowledge that I had done such a thing. All I could offer to him were those simple words. Therefore, since I wouldn't be able to do it for my own father, I most certainly would not be able to do it for a stranger.

Wow. That was heavy. At least for me it was. Alright, now for the best part! Let's have a discussion in the comments section...what is YOUR answer to this question? Please share!

xoxo