An excellent article. A lot of what she described I saw/experienced while I was an ambulance officer. It is one of the saddest things ever to listen to a person who has lived a full, caring and nurturing life, who has always there for others saying that the last thing they want is to be burden to others. When did caring for them move from being our privilege to a burden? A person may have only 6 months of bedridden life left, but who is to say that won't be one of the most fulfilling and important 6 months for that person and their friends and family in terms of the final stage of these relationships? When I become old and infirm, will I hold onto my independence so tenaciously that I am prepared to forsake every other good thing about my life? It makes you ask questions about your life, what you can give, how you give it and more importantly what and how you take from others.
