The single most generous act my father ever committed was when he decided, after carefully weighing the options, to not artificially extend his life. He reasoned that, should the chemo or the radiation work, it would also make him sick, and render him incapable of actually living. Life without living didn't attract him, so he chose hospice and fate and, ultimately, a life he could stand proud of until he, inevitably, died.

Most of medicare funding is spent 'plugging in grandma,' when grandma ain't going anywhere. While I can appreciate the pain and the trauma associated with unplugging her, I'm baffled at the mindset that decided to plug her in ... in the first place.

Our time here is short, and not improved by artificial extension. If life is sacred, so, then, should be death. The secular death caused by the eventual collapse of artificially-prolonged life is crueler. It does not lesson the grief, and poisons the memory.

Don't debate about unplugging grandma, consider not plugging her in ... in the first place.