Growing Old

Growing old scares the hell out of me. I am at a point in life where I am closer to death than to birth. In fact, it has been 37years since I graduated from high school and if I live another 37, I will be in my nineties.

We do not make growing old a nice venture for Americans. It seems so wasteful to spend somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of our health care on the final two or three years of life. If our bodies were businesses, we would never do this. What successful business waits until it is on death's door to pump money into it to keep going? The best businesses invest in themselves to remain vital and yet in our country, we wait until the end to spend money on health care. It's a joke.

I also can not understand why we make it illegal for a person to end their life. Most old people are emotionally ready to die long before their body's are and do not look forward to the dying process. They resent seeing themselves lose control over their lives, as well as bodily functions, and hate the feeling of being a burden to others. More often than not, it is the loved ones of the dying who insist on prolonging the life of the elderly because it is them who are not ready to say good-bye to someone they love.

It also does not make sense that we allow women the right to end a pregnancy while making it illegal to allow a person in their 80's with declining health to end theirs. Doctors will tell an elderly person who states they just want to die they are depressed and prescribe them an anti depressant. It is not depressing to not want to have to wait for your time to come when you are emotionally ready to move on; it's only natural. Still, we fill up doctors offices with elderly patient after elderly patient while we do a poor job of delivering preventative health care to those still in the prime of life. Euthanasia should be a legal option for the elderly and terminal, not a crime. This is not to say if you are old you should end your life.  However, if you are old or dying, it should be a legal option.

Why is it wrong to want to leave the world on your own terms, especially when you have out lived almost all the people you have ever known? Religion does a good job of making people feel guilty about this and yet lets face it, we have no problem with it when it comes to a pet. It is considered cruel to keep an aging dog that has lost its ability to function at a reasonable level alive. We are told we are doing the right thing when we take the family dog to the vet or shelter and have him “put to sleep.” However, heaven forbid if we help a loved one to an early end on their terms.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was painted as a murderer because he helped people leave this world in a dignified manner rather than have to face the slow and painful process of the inevitable. To help end ones suffering is not an act of evil. I am not talking about helping a teenager who hates life to end things. However, people who have lived a long and full life or who face a death sentence due to a disease should be allowed to call it quits on their own terms. And as far as the loved ones who are left behind, if they really do love and care about this person, they will rejoice in knowing a loved one died with dignity rather than have to go through the pain of slowly fading away long after they are emotionally ready to do so.