One last thing

I've kind of steered clear of my own family's dealing with an issue similar to the Schiavo issue, but I guess I'll just throw it out there, as a couple of my sisters have alluded to it in the comments.

My oldest sister Patty suffered a burst brain aneurysm when she was 38 years old. That was some 17 years ago. Her husband and my parents made the medical decisions. I did get to say good bye before they disconnected the ventilator. The thing that I remember is that it didn't look like her. That's probably because it wasn't really her. She was already gone.

So now I'm 38 - and the thing that makes me really sad is that I still feel really young, and that I haven't had nearly enough time on this Earth yet. It bothers me that Patty only got this long.

In 200 years, we'll all be gone, and it's doubtful anyone will remember who we were. 200 years is not a very long time. That is the nature of our existence. Regardless of what kind of life we have, how long, how short, how rich, how poor, we all end up exactly the same.