Man Asks To Die With Dignity, Not Be Burden
All “Louis” wants to do is die with dignity when his time comes.
He sits across the table from me, nearly trembling with emotion. He won’t use his real name because neither his wife nor his church agree with his cause. He’s healthy, still handsome, at 75, but death is on his mind and he needs to talk.
“I don’t want to live after I’m not useful anymore, be a burden to my children, spend their inheritances in a nursing home or in extended care,” he says.
He thrusts at me a letter to advice-columnist Ann Landers from an 85-year-old Washington woman. The writer suggests the need for a hospice-like place where people can go to die. Counselors there would make sure the client understands what he or she wants. Staff would assist in a quick and painless death.
“We could save Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,” Louis says. “There are a lot of patients getting treatment that costs thousands of dollars and they don’t want it and they have no choice.”
He uses his brother as an example. A heart attack stopped his heart for six minutes when he was 72. Paramedics revived him, took him to intensive care where he was kept for several days, then sent him home. His bill hit $8,000.
“He couldn’t do anything for himself anymore,” Louis says. “His only son had to quit his job to take care of him. Within a couple of weeks, he died.”
His brother wouldn’t have chosen to burden his son so emotionally or financially, Louis says. But no one gave him a choice.
Louis points to Native American cultures in which elders voluntarily meet death when they know they’re becoming a burden. He wants that choice. We weren’t designed to live forever, he says.
“The saddest part is that we spend $50,000 a year for nursing home care and it consists of nothing,” he says. “You can’t feed, bathe, toilet yourself. Is that living?”
Louis plans to share his concerns with state and federal legislators and wants to know if North Idahoans agree or disagree with him. Point your thumbs up or down for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.
Serious stories
Bronya Sonnenschein grew up in Vienna, moved to Poland and ended up in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Robert Waisman was only 8 when he worked in a munitions factory until he was transferred to the Buchenwald death camp.
Both survived their ordeals and now share their wartime experiences with help from the Canadian Jewish Congress. They’ll tell their stories at 7 p.m. Monday at the Kootenai River Inn in Bonners Ferry and at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Sandpoint Community Hall.
Sonnenschein met the infamous Josef Mengele and was part of the death march to the west after the Russian army was spotted near the camp. Waisman still is in touch with one of the American soldiers who liberated his camp.
The programs are free and important. Call the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force at 263-0275 if you have questions.
Well connected
Never underestimate the bloodlines in this area. Hayden’s Linda Shorb says Thomas Jefferson’s father and her sixth great-grandfather were brothers.
Even better, Linda’s great-great-grandfather and her husband’s great-great-grandfather fought against each other in the same Civil War battle. “Fortunately for us, they were both poor shots,” Linda says.
Coeur d’Alene’s John Jensen says his grandmother told him John Wilkes Booth was a great-uncle of hers. John’s been fascinated with Lincoln ever since.
And Coeur d’Alene’s Tom Nash says he’s a cousin of actor Jimmy Stewart. Cousin Jimmy is pretty removed, but he sent Cousin Tom an autographed picture a few years ago.
Any others out there?
, DataTimes