Do
ya remember the scene during the Viet Nam war protest segment of
the movie, when Forrest spoke to the masses in front of the Washington
Monument?If you recall,
a hush fell over the crowd, the sound system went south and ol’
Forrest just kept talkin’ bout what it was that made him feel
the way he did about war...and nobody heard a word he said.
I’ve often wondered what truth I’d relate if
given the opportunity to speak my peace in a time where there was
none.The following internet exchange between
me and another NDEr suggests my sentiments.
Strangely enough, the topic was euthanasia...”and that’s
all I have to say about that.”
On 1/24/02 1:46 PM, John wrote:
My response to an essentially sad and so
often frightening topic is that a person would need to be pretty
fit to carry out this list of instructions in toto.I do not wish to be flippant, since virtually every family
encounters this problem of extreme pain and distress somewhere along
the line.I have sat up all night, accompanied by
doctors, witnessing the final hours of various people, and have
been told that, despite all the apparent suffering, the patient's
perceptions differ fundamentally from what we might expect them
to be.Even the statement that I've just written may be provocative
– I realize that - but what if the sufferer is experiencing
OBEs/NDEs in some kind of alleviating process?My interest in further discussion of this is genuine and
open to modification.
Silent
Companion
From: M
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 07:46:39 -0400
To: <nde@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [nde] HOW CAN I KILL MYSELF
John
Not unlike you, I also
have been down this road and the indecisiveness cuts like a knife.I've watched a couple of my nearest and dearest Heart Brothers
go down---compliments of the physiological and psychological aftermath
of that nifty little war in Viet Nam---and I angst...and I railed...and
wept with "what to do?"..."what's the right thing?"
One of these Dear Guys took his own life because he couldn't
hold any more pain and it just got to be too much.I struggled with his choice, yet it wasn't mine to make;
it was his...and, eventually, I arrived at a perspective resulting
in a "who am I to judge what was right or wrong for him."
The other, who was tainted
with Agent Orange poisoning which eventually resulted in a malignant
brain tumor some 20 years later, held on thru 6 months of some of
the most horrendous agony I've ever witnessed.He was allergic to morphine, btw, and
it doesn't take a rocket scientist to imagine what it musta been
like as the melon size tumor kept expanding.His decision was to hold on and ride, as best he could, the
train all the way thru.There
came a point---somewhere in the neighborhood of the eighth hour
of his twelve hour death rattle---when I was left alone in the room
with him.I gently picked up a pillow and with all
the Love that I Know, made the decision I would make the decision,
in toto, for him.And
it was tough...tougher than most anything I'd ever known...and,
had his wife not come back to the room, I just mighta gone thru
with it.
I've come to the conclusion,
"there ain't no lines, on the front line"...and this topic
is about as front line as it gets. Not unlike you, Silent Companion,
my interest in further discussion of this topic is genuine and open
for modification.Currently,
though, I tend to respect the Sanctity of Individual Choice.
