Hwk 21

-Eric was always afraid to go to the doctor or the dentist.
-It was a gift to see him sleeping properly on a bed as opposed to having pillows holding him up while he slept.
-If Eric wasn’t fighting he was stoic.
-The last 10 days before Eric’s death were the best 10 days of our 27 year marriage, because there was nothing else I needed to care about other than him.
-Society tends to keep death removed from the public, and tries to keep it tucked away in hospitals.
-Eric was presented as an artist instead of an individual who was sick

Beth told us that it was a gift to see her husband sleeping properly in his bed after his lungs were tapped. This made me realize that we take the most common aspects of our life for granted. When we witness or experience an abnormality that has to do with our bodies. we become aware of our bodily functions. We suddenly realize that we are alive; we become aware of our physicality when we are ill or approaching death. This is when we finally figure out what side effects we can have to an illness and how grateful we should be when there is not much wrong with our bodies. When our body is in a normal state, we never tend to question ourselves regarding our body disfunctioning. since there is nothing out of the ordinary. We become used to this fact after a while and slowly start to drift away from our physicality. But when we feel as if our body is experiencing something unusual, we finally start to realize our physicality. It is as if we are pushed back into reality.

Beth stated that if Eric wasn’t fighting after he was diagnosed with advanced metastatic kidney cancer, he was definitely stoic. I think that many individuals become stoic after they figure out that their days are literally numbered. I think this has to do with all of us being aware that we will all go through death sooner or later, one way or another. When the time of death approaches we have to accept it and keep living day after day waiting for our life to be taken away from us. The ones that are witnessing death approach an individual are the ones that seem to be the most affected by it. They are the ones that are saddened by the fact that they will witness death approach on an individual. We are the ones who take pity on the ill, and make them feel as if something is wrong with them; as if there is something out of the ordinary. The outsiders view the individual approach death, and feel bad for them for some reason I don’t really understand. Death will approach all of us some day, so why do we act to surprised and concerned when we see someone else experience it?

I think Beth’s presentation was a great way to have a new face to discuss with us about death and illness. I haven’t had anyone discuss a death about their loved one with me; in fact I haven’t really been exposed to many conversations that deal with death or illness. Towards the end of the discussion, Beth told us that she is still afraid of death. Many of us are fearful of death, yet it is a fact that we will face it once in our life. I don’t really understand why we are all afraid of death; I guess I am being hypocritical here because I as well am afraid of death. But I think this is very common amongst many of us. When we die it is usually said that we go to a better place, so why aren’t we excited about dying and escaping from this obstacle course called life? Why do we mourn and take pity of those who are approaching death? I guess this has to do with not knowing what happens after death. We choose to believe what we believe in about death since there is no factual evidence about the after life. There is no way we can experience the after life, and come back to tell the tale to others; what’s done is done.