Is it bad to hope for death for someone else? One of the side effects
of modern medicine is that people live long enough to become a burden
to their families. My grandmother, for instance. She has had several
strokes, so she can't verbalize complete sentences anymore. She has
fallen and broken her arm in such a way that the doctors can't really
do anything about it, because there is no place to put a pin because
she had her shoulder replaced (several times) already. She is too
frail to go under anesthesia, so they can't opperate. She doesn't want
to use her insurance money to live in an assisted care place because
she shouldn't have to do that. Everyone else in the world should, but
not my grandmother. So, she's in pain, she's unable to care for
herself in so many ways, she is difficult to deal with anyway, and my
Aunt is the one bearing the brunt of it. And she is my Aunt
through marriage! I just feel like things would be better for everyone
involved if Grandmother would just get to go home. She would get a new
body, get to be with her husband, and my Aunt could focus on her family
and her health. Maybe this is ageist of me, but is what Grandmother
is doing really living? I'm glad I'm not God. I don't know enough, or
maybe even love enough, to make those decisions.
