Death be not uninformed . . .

Death's been in the news a lot lately; not just because of the people who have died (which people do all the time), but because of the questions the health care reform debate has raised raised about how we, the living, can best deal with fact that we, too, will someday cease being.

First of all, rest assured, it will happen. And in my opinion, as a lady of a certain age, death is not anything to get all hett up about. It's simply part of life. Although we cannot know for certain what happens after it, we can certainly understand what will happen during it, if we wish to. And one provision, long gone, of health care reform bills was to make such knowledge readily and affordably available to each of us.

I, for one, am baffled by what happened to the discussion of this provision--where did the term "death panels" come from, for Pete's sake? Did some political speechwriter come up with that just for its shock value; just to prey on the minds of people who are uninformed and wish to stay that way?

I have long held the best way to offer up your opinion in a contentious debate is to attach it to a personal story. It advocates without preaching; informs us and enlarges our experience, without advocating any particular conclusion. Today's essay on the Civic Soapbox about end-of-life decisions is a prime example of this.

In case you missed it, here's a link to it on our website.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wmra/news.newsmain/article/0/3507/1555775/Civic.Soapbox/My.Death.Panel.Interview

And here's to Tim Hulbert for his personal generosity in telling it to us.