[Magdalen] permission to die with dignity

[Grace Cangialosi]

I've done lots of Hospice work, too, Jay, and I understand the issues.
That's why I said I think it should be a person's choice. I don't have a
moral objection to it, though I sometimes get caught up in the question of
whether we have the right to take a life--even our own. And I simply don't
know what I'd do if I were ever in that position.

There is a priest, the assistant in my home parish right now who has ALS
and is at the point where she can just about move the joystick on her chair
after someone positions it for her; that's all.  She can't speak and may
have a feeding tube--I'm not sure.  But she is present every Sunday at the
altar, uses a computer-activated voice to speak, still "writes" and
preaches her own sermons. For awhile, before she got the computer thing,
others had to read her sermons for her, but now she does it.  She
distributes the bread at communion with an assistant. She still accompanies
the rector on hospital visits.

I don't think I could possibly do what she is doing and has been doing for
a couple of years now, losing one capacity after another while her mind has
stayed as sharp as ever.  But it has been an amazing gift to the
congregation. I have often thought that if I were ever in that situation I
wouldn't want to continue living, but seeing her, I don't know.  I often
think of the title of that book that Kennedy wrote called "Profiles in
Courage." She surely is an example of that.

On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 2:29 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> Grace, as a former hospice nurse I don't have a single problem with it. Her
> chances of recovery are zero, zip, zilch. She is merely choosing to go out
> on her own terms, before she is a complete vegetable or something worse. I
> would like to at least have the *choice* to do the same if my situation
> were similar.
>
> On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 2:17 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Excellent article; I'm still somewhat conflicted about this, but I do
> > think it's a personal decision.
> > That said, I love the title of the blog where this appeared: Post
> > Traumatic Church Syndrome!
> >
> > > On Oct 15, 2014, at 2:00 AM, James Oppenheimer <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > I did a study on the topic of people having the right or not having the
> > > right to end their lives at their chosen time.  A lot of water has gone
> > > over the dam since I did that reading back in the day.
> > >
> > > A young woman has found she has a short time left, and her family has
> > moved
> > > to a state where people are allowed to die at the time of their
> choosing.
> > > Interesting article about it. A lot of interesting responses too. And a
> > lot
> > > of folks who just don't get it.
> > >
> > > http://tinyurl.com/oyv25bg
> > >
> > > James W. Oppenheimer
> > > *"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things
> > better
> > > for people coming behind you, and you don't do it, you're wasting your
> > time
> > > on this Earth."  -- *Roberto Clemente
> >
>



-- 
Grace Cangialosi
Ruckersville, VA

"There are a lot of amazing people out there to be thankful for--
and a loving God. that's what life is about."
                                                                   Robin
Williams,  1951-2014