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| front of our house |
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| old style lights along our back yard hedge |
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| Buddy doesn't know how to relax - at all |
I only have a tiny bit more shopping to,need to get some Christmas cards in the mail and bake some cookies to take to the kidsand my nephew for our visit to Alberta in 2 weeks - and I am done! I only send cards to my senior Aunts and Uncles in the States as most are not on Facebook and they enjoy receiving them.
We have a friend who has cancer, she has been fighting it for the last 10 years and after one remission her cancer came back last year and she now is in hospice. Euthanasia has been legal in Canada since 2016 and after a long fruitful life she is choosing this option next week. This has been a long process as in order for it to be legal many hoops need to be jumped through then you need to find a Doctor willing to perform it as it is voluntary for them, not mandatory. We are both very sad for her and also happy that she has the legal option to go out the way she wants to. The whole thing is just so strange though, as I don't know anyone who has had anyone they care about choose this option before and knowing the date is even stranger. She has refused to see anyone other than her immediate family since July and there is to be no funeral, the family wants to celebrate her life while she is alive, not after she passes. She was a wonderful vibrant sweet woman in life and the world has been a better place for her having been in it. She will be missed. We have had other Decembers where we have lost people, had relatives in comas and had our lives in disarray, too many of them and hopefully all of them in the past. Our thoughts are with her family right now.
And on that note, life must go on for the rest of us so I've got to get this posted and get some work done today.
I was still too number to reply the other day on my post abut my friend, but I am so sorry for your friend, and the loss you have/will be experiencing. No doubt she did not come to her decision lightly, but still painful for you all. Your lights are lovely-I look forward to walking pup , bundled up of course, and seeing the lights. Christmas lights to me are a reminder that even in darkness, light will shine.
ReplyDeleteYou have experienced so much loss of friends lately, so I completely understand about you not replying. So sad, especially when someone is still young and vibrant. Our friend had a very full long life so she is ready. I love the lights too, my favorite part of Christmas (that and the food lol)
DeleteHow brave of your friend to die on her own terms. I know this tinges your life with sadness. I've always found Christmas lights comforting.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that is why we put so many up. The whole house glows inside and out and feels so warm and cozy
DeleteYou lights look so very festive. Crossing my fingers that I get everything up tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughts about your friend. At the end of our time nothing could be nicer than to have someone think the world was better for someone being in it. Lovely sentiments!
She is just about the sweetest woman you could know, I seriously meant it
DeleteOne of the caregivers that helped my mom in her last years got brain cancer. She opted to end her life as well. It must be a hard decision to make. - Margy
ReplyDeleteYes, a difficult decision as I am sure there are people in her own family who don't want her to do that but it is her choice. Our new hospital opened here but the old one was St Josephs and Catholic so they would not perform Euthanasia there. She lives in Victoria though and it is being performed in a hotel by a Doctor there (weird place but likely she did not wish to die in her daughters home)
DeleteMy heart goes out to your friend and all those who love her.
ReplyDeleteSad but part of the circle of life
DeleteLovely . . . and sad . . . all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteVirtual hugs,
Judie
Thank you Judilyn
DeleteIt is a good thing we can finally choose to leave life in a dignified way. May your friend's memory last forever in the minds of those who loved her.
ReplyDeleteYes, this should have been legal here years ago. I think this year is the first year it has actually been practiced though as Doctors had to protect themselves legally first, so glad there are willing Doctors to perform it.
DeleteMy father died of cancer. He did not choose when to die. He chose no treatment at all. When he was in the hospital, his pain was so great he was on morphine. He knew no pain when he died. He did not die of cancer. He died from the last shot of morphine he was given. People worry about a person dying in pain. Usually, if given good palliative care, the death can be from pain meds. I would like to choose when to die, but may have to move from the South to Canada.
ReplyDeleteMy husbands dad died of cancer too, it seemed so long and drawn out in the end, 30 days of really bad pain, I am happy she has this option after seeing what he went through. No one should have to do that.
DeleteKudos to you for the "almost done" decoration!
ReplyDeleteYour Buddy is very cute in his lying position on the bed.
Sorry about your friend's tragic condition. Her decision is a hard one both for her and for her family.
Buddy is so fun and always doing something cute, a bright part of our life. It is hard for her and her family but she really didn't want to be a burden to them and has suffered long enough.
DeleteOh my! I don't know how one would prepare one's heart for the scheduled death of a dear friend. Just acknowledge and mourn I suppose. 💝
ReplyDeleteYou are right, but as the day creeps closer (2 days now) we feel very very strange. Acknowledge and mourn is exactly what we hope to do.
DeleteMy American friend's dad chose the right to die, too.It was very dignified and gave his loved ones the chance to say their goodbyes. Closure is so very important.
ReplyDeleteHope your dinner party was fun and Buddy's enjoying some dry weather! xxx
It is sad but I am glad her pain is ending on her terms. Hubby's Dad died of cancer and it was so painful tha last 30 days. He was very religious so wouldn't have chosen the same path but I would in a heartbeat if I knew I was a burden or was in a great deal of pain.
DeleteYour friend is incredibly brave; I wish none of us ever had to make such a decision.
ReplyDeleteYour lights look lovely. I don't decorate the outside of my home but one of my neighbour's has an incredible display. The lights dance to music and he uses a radio channel to broadcast to cars passing by. It is fun to sit out on the driveway and watch for a bit.
Now that is one serious guy with the lights and music. I best not tell my husband and give him any ideas lol. I think this is as big as we get though, primarily because kids are coming for Christmas. We used to hang lights in the tree but it is too tall so we gave that part up this year, too much hassle and the windstorms we have take the lights down sometimes
DeleteYour lights are pretty!
ReplyDeleteI had an aunt (in Europe) who chose that path. She, too, had been sick for many, many years. While I have mixed feelings about it, I once had someone tell me, "Here in America we are much more humane to our animals than we are to humans." There is some wisdom to that statement. Hugs as you mourn the loss of your friend.
You are right, people put down animals when they are in pain. I think everyone has mixed feelings about it - a really tough decision for her and her family
DeleteI work in hospice and this has been quite a journey to undertake as we create policies and procedures at our centre for our families. Blessings to you and to your friend. Namaste. X Chy
ReplyDeleteThe world needs more people like you, I can only imagine what it takes to work in hospice. All the people who care for those that are dying are incredible, such giving people from the doctors to the nurses to aides and housekeeping. They all need to be recognized
DeleteI think it's wonderful too that we can choose our own way through to the end of our life. I had to watch both parents suffer terribly in the last months of their lives - it was awful. My mom had dementia so I don't how much she understood but my dad really wanted things to be over. I think your friend has been brave and has chosen what is best for her. Some folks may think it's a selfish decision but really I think "they" are the selfish ones. My mom chose to be cremated and had made her wishes known in writing a few years before she passed. Of course cremation has to be done within 24 hours of death and a couple of her brothers tried to prevent her wishes from being carried out so that relatives who lived a long distance away would have time to SEE her before cremation. Of course we couldn't accommodate that wish and relationships with these relatives haven't been great since. Sorry, I guess your post hit a nerve!
ReplyDeleteI think respecting our loved ones wishes is our final act of love. It's not about us, it's about them.
Relatives will never agree unfortunately. My motherinlaw has alzheimers and I wish she could have had this option as she is wasting away and doesn't know her family but unfortunately this option isn't available to those with dementia as you have to be of sound mind. My father in law though died of cancer and it would have been nice for him not to have to suffer so much at the end, although he was so religious not sure he would have taken that option. Hubby and I would though if the situation warrents it. It is about them, sometimes people can be so selfish and petty about these things
DeleteEuthanasia is still illegal in the UK. When you see some of the campaigners and how much they suffer - you wouldn't let a dog suffer like that - it is just so cruel. Thankfully it is legal in Switzerland so many make the trip out here to end their lives, but it does mean that they often have to bring it forward while they are still well enough to travel. To my way of thinking that's just inhuman. God bless your friend. Anna
ReplyDeleteI wish everyone had the option. It is cruel to let people suffer. Thank you Anna
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