death and dying.

Depressing title, I know. But why? Why does death have to be so depressing?

I’ve been thinking about this in light of the whole Terri Schiavo case. What a tragic situation, really. This poor family has fought and fought for years to keep their daughter alive. But what kind of life is she living? Would she want to die this way...or live this way? And...would she want her family so distraught? Definitely not. Hundreds of people are taken off some form of life support each day, for various reasons. What makes this case so difficult is the fact that it has been so public. My heart goes out to them in their grief. How tragic it would be to lose your wife/daughter (or any loved-one) to such serious brain damage. Dealing with that loss 15 years ago must have been incredibly difficult. It seems they are putting themselves through unnecessary emotional torment by dealing with it so publicly today.

Technological advances in medicine are incredibly amazing, but it seems there has to be a point when prolonging someone’s life does not necessarily improve their quality of life. I think when it comes down to it, we all know we’re going to have to face death someday, but no one really wants to deal with the reality, so we attempt to put it off as long as possible...but to what benefit? I do not advocate euthanasia...I am 100% pro-life...but I know I personally do not want to be kept alive artificially. I know I would want to spare my family the emotional turmoil and financial burden of keeping me “alive.”

I found a very interesting article on Yahoo News yesterday dealing with this very subject. Check it out if you’re interested.