A delightful lady of my acquaintance, recently deceased, used to tell her children, "When I'm can't read anymore, it'll be time to unplug the machines and put me out of my misery." Shortly before her death, a stroke meant she could no longer read and she reminded her son of her oft stated position. He was, I imagine, somewhat apprehensive about what she would say next. In fact, she shot him one of her unique mischievous looks and said, "Watching television isn't so bad."
My father used to loathe 'needles' and always said that if he had to inject himself to live, then he'd have to die. Yet when he required daily insulin injections, he didn't hesitate. He commented that its different when it's really real.
We are, as a species, pretty hopeless about envisaging the future. When we envisage old age and infirmity (if we ever do) we always forget that inside, we will still be us. We will still feel like ourselves.
The future is a long way off. I'm quite in favour of living wills and the like, make no mistake. But don't try to second guess everything. Allow yourself to be surprised. Even daily injections and television may not be as bad as you always feared.
This is post 70 of 100 posts in 100 days
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