“To be ‘death positive’ doesn’t mean that you are happy about dying.”
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“After a two-hour appointment in which my mother was assessed and then diagnosed with dementia … my stepfather announced, “OK! So there’s nothing wrong with her!”
“Your mother didn’t choose a terminal illness. She only chose not to let the disease pick when and how she would die.”
“We live in a culture that’s intensely driven by productivity, accomplishments, and academic achievements. In doing this, we’ve forgotten about our wise ones, the storytellers, the original wisdom keepers, the Elders.”
“No one is born into this world alone, and in the best of circumstances, no one dies alone. With people living longer than ever before, however, outliving family and friends is a modern-day reality.”
On Saturday, February 18, 2023, when the Carter Center announced that former President Jimmy Carter would be receiving hospice care at home, I was both saddened by what this decision essentially means for the former president, and intrigued by the possibility of having broader discussions about hospice and, more specifically, end-of-life doulas.
“We can’t keep up with our waitlist,” Arnoldy says of skyrocketing interest in the program. “The last time we opened up registration, the applicants crashed our system.”
VSED might not be for everyone, but it is the only chance for some to experience an end to unbearable suffering. Done with careful preparation, medical support, and compassionate caregiving, VSED offers a natural end to life.
In 2019, three community women asked to meet with me about a compelling community education concern. The spouses of these women had all struggled to use the VSED end-of-life option because our county’s only hospital, and associated hospice program, had religious affiliations and, therefore, was unable to support VSED.
People experience death in varied ways. Different colors, different cultures, demand different approaches to the dying process.
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