Current events-a bit melancholy

I've been wondering why the Terri Schiavo case has been resonating with me and I finally hit upon why after visiting a yahoo diagram that showed the process of starving to death over days.

My dad was a great guy, almost more a friend than a parent. Life cicumstances kept us apart a couple of years when I was a teen. In August of 1998, I recieved a call that he'd been rushed to the hospital. A minor surgery revealed that he was riddled with multi-system cancer and he was given a couple of months to live. He hung on for five long months...

He finally lost his fight when he was a mere 62 pounds, down from his pre-diagnosis high of 185 or so. He was a little stocky and 5'11"...imagine a man that height at 62 pounds.

It was hell. He was 100% aware and 100% conscious until the last day and he had cravings...he'd wistfully mention food like pizza, when all he could tolerate were ice chips.

And yet he was so damn brave. He never complained a once.

I'm not going to get into a political debate here, because I don't feel that is the purpose of my blog. I sort of went off on a tangent here...

I just thank god that we didn't have to make the decision Michael Schiavo had to make for Terri...that as terrible as his pain was, my dad was able to greet death on his own terms.

My prayers are with their families. May they someday find a measure of peace.