May She Rest In Peace

If you're at all engaged in popular culture, you've probably heard about Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old woman who was diagnosed with some horrible form of terminal cancer and so moved with her husband to Oregon so she could legally take advantage of Oregon's assisted suicide laws and end her life on her own terms.  

Apparently she died on Saturday. 

And all I can say is, rest in peace. Twenty-nine is way too young to be handed a cancerous death sentence, and who am I to question the choices someone in that position makes -- whether it's to sign up for any and all treatments available, sit back and wait for the cancer to do its thing, or head to Oregon and cut it off at pass. They're all equally terrible options which no 29-year-old should have to choose between.

And as someone facing their own terminal cancer diagnosis, if certainly less urgent than Ms. Maynard's, I'm impressed by her ability to face the fact that she was going to die, and actively and engagingly respond to it. Based on my own experience, and what I've heard and read about, this seems a fairly rare trait. We all know we're going to die, but few seem to want to accept that fact, even when all the evidence suggests that it's going to happen fairly soon.* 

So, here's to Brittany Maynard and her family and friends. I hope her decision gave them all more peace than any of the other available options might have done.


* Personally, I'd be willing to be bet that the thought going through the minds of most people facing a firing squad is not "I'm about to die" but "maybe all their guns will jam."