Last Thursday afternoon, my father-in-law (92) passed away. He has been staying at our house for three (3) weeks after it became apparent that the end was near. My wife made the decision to allow him to die at our house with the help of the Hospice Department of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor.
I have never experienced the work that people at Hospice centers do but I will tell you they are a special, special lot. The nurse in charge of our case was Sister Mary; a small but very powerful and caring person. She cared for the dying and those that cared for the dying; us.
Everyone was so over-the-top sensitive to all of our needs and concerns that I was totally blown away; and they do this over and over and over again.
We could have never been able to do what we did without their help. I feel that, in our case, this was the right way to handle this situation BUT…
We both feel that there should be an option of assisted passing. I, myself, would like the opportunity to pick my end-time. If I know I have a finite time remaining because of my condition, I want to pick the time and place of my exit and I feel mad that this option is not available to us and why not?
If there are enough safeguards in place, like in Oregon, assisted suicide is a compassionate option that should be made available to all who desire it.
I hope the next generation is a little more progressive AND compassionate to make this happen.
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