For Max: What’s a Good Day to Die?

The Queen song asks, who wants to live forever? I do. I do as long as my family will too and my friends and my pets. As long as I won't suffer a never ending string of miseries while doing it I would like to live forever. Of course none of us has to worry about that because none of us will live forever. And like wise none of us will ever escape the heartbreak of losing a loved one.

What would be a good day to die though, I mean if you could choose it. Would you still be somewhat cognizant? Would you wait until your body was too ill to carry on any worthwhile function and then choose to take a needle for that last dose of sleep aid? Would you do it if you found out you had some terminal disease: in some big way, like leaping off a bridge so you would know the sensation of weightless terminal velocity?

And what's a good day for your loved one to die? You have the power to decide, with the flash of a credit card to pay for the needle you are in total control of the life force of another. Is it a blessing or a curse to have that power? How selfish are you? Do you want them gone because it's a burden to take care of them? Do you think you are doing them a favor by putting them out of their misery? Are you carrying out their wish not to languish? Is it beyond your capacity for pain to watch them suffer?

It's a rare gift to be able to make that final decision for someone or something you have loved and cherished. The advancement of age, physical decline, quality of life, and financial capacity all weigh heavily on what can and cannot be done within reason. Logic would dictate that at some point there are things you just cannot fix and it is humane to end suffering. But the heart is not logical and because the mind is there will always be those lingering "what if's". In the end you stand alone with your pain and guilt and you pray that your heart being in the right place and the information based logical decision you came to will eventually feel less damning.