PJ Day 2014. I don't think I've had one yet. I caught a nasty cold on Friday--decided to use up some of my sick days and stay home today. For the first time in my working career I have paid sick time. I can hardly believe it really, and because of my earlier Cancer diagnosis, I bank them like crazy--just in case I need to take a serious amount of time off. Onto the blog post:
This weekend, Brittany Maynard took her life. She was a terminally ill Cancer patient who was using her right to die with dignity. Here is her message: Brittany Maynard
This blog would not be complete without her story being told. This is not a one sided "Pro-Life" blog, but rather I want to just weigh in -- in what I see in this story. I will not dismiss Brittany's desire, or the fact that she felt that this was the way for her. This was HER decision with HER loved ones.
I just know my loved and I ones would think so much differently.
Here is what brought me into this story a couple weeks ago: We love you Brittany Maynard
I hope you watch all of the videos, so here's my piece.
I've been working with youth since 1988, when Kent and I moved to Kelowna BC. I've seen great heartache and pains, along with huge gains and great celebrations.
My heart has hurt for Brittany, because I believe she bought into a lie. Something that has been percolating in the North American Culture for decades.
Life can be easy, painless, effortless.
What it has done has bred generations of people who would not know what to do if tragedy, destruction, famine or war could bring. We, as North American's in the past number of generations have not had any real hardship. We. Are. SOFT.
I remember just a couple months ago, the power went out here for 6 hours. I laid back in my bed, read a book, was completely comfortable with the lack of noise in the house, lack of 'entertainment', not that I like this, but I have trained myself over the past 3 years to be comfortable with little, and content with quiet.
My students....had a terrible time with a lack of access to the internet, TV, they just didn't know what to do!
We have never had to live 6 months on cabbage soup.
We have never had a time where we have been fearful of bombings.
We rarely have to endure or suffer long with pain, because we have access to a great health care system, easy access to drugs, and in a number of hours we can be numbed.
In all this I see a softer and softer generation of people.
When I think of the days when we heard the word Cancer and we didn't know what was coming, I knew that I was laying down a path for my kids and Kent to follow, they were looking to me to see how was I going to handle all of this.
Kent said as he took my hands, we walk this out together.
I can tell you I suffered. I hurt. I didn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I had a hard time remembering to eat--and didn't poop. I gained 14 pounds each round of chemo, that I had a tough time losing by the time the new round started. I lost muscle mass, strength and endurance.
All along, I thought, I would fight this tooth and nail to the very, very end. I would not take the easy way out. To cut short this journey--because I knew that people were watching me and I knew that through the strength at God gives me on a daily basis, we could walk this out.
One day, when my days are done--I know exactly what I would want. To be surrounded by my family, Jonathan and Max playing the guitar, Melissa and Kent singing my favourite songs--leading me to the time I will see the dawning of heaven and being ushered into the presence of the Lord.
There will be no easy way to die, but I chose to have quantity of time with my loved ones on earth--they will be able to say that I was feisty all the way to the end.
There is real beauty in being broken, there is real beauty in suffering. There is a refining that I wouldn't give up for anything.
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