Last Few Days

It is inevitable that we will all die it is a fact that everyone must come to terms with. There comes a time in everyone’s life that they must face death; a friend’s tragic accident, a family member’s passing or their own battles with diseases. When faced with the idea of death people will act in different ways some may find it therapeutic to apologize for the negative they have done, some may want to spend time with loved ones to ease the future pain, and others may decide that their life was not what they believed. The story Death Constant Beyond Love tells us about a man named Senator Sanchez who is living a happy life with his wife and five kids. That is until he is told by doctors that he only has a short time to live. Death is

“Hypothetically, if you knew you were going to die and you had one last lecture, what would you say to your students?” That is how Professor Randy Pausch, from Carnegie Mellon, began his last lecture, a speech entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” while in fact he was dying of Pancreatic Cancer. He knew he only had months left to live and put together this last lecture to read to his students. His lecture focuses in on points such as the importance of: making sincere apologies, not whining, being gracious and being humble. To stress his thoughts and views on life and following one’s dreams, Randy Pausch used a great amount of repetition, metaphors, allusion, humor, ethos, and pathos in his last lecture.

This essay was originally written in February of 1996 for a composition class that I took at a local community college while completing my third and final year of high school. The original text has been edited to correct spelling and grammar. In truth, this essay is more of a collaboration between Betsy and I. She had take the class from the same instructor the year before. Many of the concepts discussed are largely extrapolations and enhancements of ideas she expressed. She got a B+ on her version; I got an A on mine :).

How does one want to die? That might be a question too harsh for some to think about. So, maybe the correct question would be, how can one embrace death? Everyone’s answer to this question is more than likely going to be very diverse. Do people embrace death and live every moment to the fullest until it is their time to go? One man, Dudley Clendinen, a writer for the New York Times, did just that. His article is about his intentions to end his own life at the young age of 66 rather than having his daughter and friends watch him die a laborious and excruciating death. The context of his article is

Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A

The beginning of life is celebrated. Books and resources are shared among friends and family in preparation for becoming a new parent. So, what happens as one approaches the end of life? Unfortunately, the same care and sharing rarely occurs in those circumstances and many face the prospect of dying unprepared. Though most people state they would prefer to die at home, this is often not where death occurs. Many Americans spend their last days attached to medical apparatus that keeps the body alive, but it does not allow for communication with family and often requires heavy sedation. Additionally, this level of treatment comes at a high price. As a society, we must become as comfortable in addressing the end of life process as we

By biological logic, we human beings will face death sooner or later in our life and death has its very own ways to approach us - a sudden deadly strike, a critical sickness, a tragic accident, a prolonged endurance of brutal treatment, or just an aging biological end. To deal with the prospect of death come different passive or active reactions; some may be scared and anxious to see death, some try to run away from it, and some by their own choice make death come faster. But Viktor Frankl, through his work Man’s Search for Meaning, and Bryan Doyle; in his essay “His Last Game” show us choices to confront the death, bring it to our deepest feelings, meaningful satisfaction. To me, the spirit of the prisoners at deadly concentration camps, Frankl’s Logotherapy theory of “. . . striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.” (99), as well as the calmness of Doyle’s brother on his last ride, like an awaken bell, remind us of how precious life is, how we should find the significance in every act of living, determine to live a meaningful life at any circumstances; hence, when death comes, we can accept it without anxiety nor regrets.

The Buddhists guided us to prepare for death, to prepare for that journey by cleansing the mind and not being so attached to things, to be able to let go and release ourselves for needing to be. Through this we will not suffer so much as we pass through the final stage of the present life, we can let go, be grateful for what we had but not hold to it, not try to guarantee stability and cause ourselves to suffer more than we need to. This way we can end

This is a very difficult part of the reading for me. It paints a picture of saying goodbye to family, being strong for others, placing trust in doctors, and making a conscious choice about how we want to live and conduct ourselves in our final days. It talks about surrender and acceptance with no resistance and faith as we, in a dignified way set this one final example for our loved ones. This is a beautiful image but sadly, makes me acutely aware of how that this is not the experience of some elderly. Some are abandoned by their family or did not have a family to speak of to say goodbye and they are left to face this new phase of their life alone.

In 1999, Jay Barry and his friend Carol Martini set sail on there ship to travel the world. After sailing along the U.S Atlantic Coast, to the Panama Canal, Caribbean, the Galapagos, Polynesia, Australia, and Singapore they reached Thailand, where they teamed up with other ships because soon they’d be venturing into Pirate Alley. Soon after, two pirate ships appeared and began shooting at them. Barry decided to go straight towards the ships ramming into them. The pirates were shocked and turned around (Klein). It is Barry’s instinct and courage is what helped him choose life over death. In “Is Survival Selfish?” by Lane Wallace and Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales, both authors emphasize the fact that instinct to live is the base for survival.

The thing that I am most concerned about is to end my life without even saying goodbye to my parents and sister. If I don’t know when I am going to die and meet my death abruptly, I can not say goodbye. It is the worst situation for me because my parents and sister would not be ready to take my death in my age. I would be thankful to know when I am going to die because I can have enough time to my parents and sister ready to meet my death. Saying goodbye to the most important people in my life is going to be the best moment before I die. Therefore, I want to know when I am going to

If you had only 6 months to left to live, what would you do differently, if anything? If I knew I only had six months to live I think everything would be different. Recently with this knee injury (not even a life or death injury) I noticed that when my knee is giving me problems my quality of life is not so great. During these times I am emotionally “down” feeling. So I couldn’t imagine how I would feel emotionally if I knew I only had six months left to live.

Death is an idea that everyone must wrestle with at one point in their life, whether it be a quickly approaching doom or a peaceful end sixty years down the line. In Shute’s On the Beach, each character’s individual arch in the novel take separate paths but are all headed towards the same place: death. In response to the extreme scenario they are thrown into, that climax will come much sooner than any of them intended and many are left wondering if they are ready to meet their end. What each one of them decide to do along the way in order to make their lives end on a positive note relates to how they choose to approach death. The theme deals with the way they react to their death, and what each distinct reaction does for them whether it be comfort, distraction, or enjoyment.

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” ~ Pope Paul VI. Everybody knows they are going to die one day, but does anyone put use of this information? Do they plan their funeral or do they do as much as they possibly can? In the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom - a heartbreaking story about Albom and his dying professor, Morrie Schwartz - Morrie states that, “‘Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” (Albom 82). Skeptics may say this is untrue, and that no one can actually learn how to die, but this may be incorrect. After all, think of what you would do if you had one day to live. What would you do? Where would you go? Some may hop on the nearest plane and fly to New York or Barcelona, while others may take a walk in the park with their family or visit their favourite cafe.

Today for the first time, I began to take a serious look at how I wish to live out my last days. Honestly, before today I have never given much thought to this idea, but the reality of life being finite has resonated with me. Over the past few months, several close friends and acquaintances have died. Most of them were very unexpected and their loved ones were left confounded in trying to make last minute decisions. I don’t want this burden to be cast on my family. I want all of my loved one’s to know exactly what measures I want taken during my hospitalization; if I am in a position where I can’t communicate for myself. My first step was conveying this to my family, letting them know that I will be preparing a booklet chronicling my desires. Of course when I began to speak to my family members about death, I was confronted with essentially the same response, “Let’s not talk about that. You will be around for a long time yet.” My thoughts immediately took me to Schechter’s “The Whole Death Catalog” and Phillip Aries. Aries described the 20th Century as being an era marked with “forbidden death.” Implying the whole process of death was “shameful and hidden.” (Schechter, page 15) So of course I responded to my family’s words, with how Death was imminent. It is our selfish nature to want to hold on to life forever; but no matter how hard we clinch, we eventually lose our grip. My mother then told me to tell my sisters because she won’t be here when I die. My