I have changed my mind

Thursday, October 18, 2007



I recently read a couple articles that changed my mind about how long I want to live.

One of my earliest goals was to live long enough to witness the birth of the 21st century. That meant living at least until the year 2000 when I would be 8o years old. Once I had made that goal, I decided I would aim for the year 2020 when I will be 100.

I now realize that the length of my life is not as important as the quality. For instance, I do not want any medical interventions such as installing a ventilator or performing a tracheotomy to extend my existence.

One of my sincerest hopes is that I will not have to spend time bedridden in a nursing home. Once I am no longer able to navigate a walker or wheelchair, if such is needed, I would like to go to sleep and awaken on the other side---wherever that is.

Celebrating my one hundredth birthday sounds like fun, but unless I am able to at least blow out the candles on my cake, I had rather not be there.

Why not?

For some time I have been tempted to try my hand at writing down some of the thoughts that pass through my mind from day to day as I watch television, read newspapers, attend meetings, talk with friends, etc. etc. Today I said, "Why not?"

Thus was born another blog.

I have just returned from a breakfast meeting attended by senior citizens. The speaker was from a major public utility. When she mentioned that her company was required to provide electricity to everyone, including those who could not pay, from November to April, one of the seniors objected to this on the basis that the rest of us end up paying for those unpaid bills.

I find it difficult to believe that there are American citizens who would rather see some neighbors suffer through a winter without electricity than to have their own bills slightly increased to cover that cost.

What is happening to morality in the USA?