Dying with dignity
Dying with Dignity: Journal Entry
Seton Hall University
When I first heard the word cancer I was in elementary school and I had no idea of what it meant; all I knew was my grandmother had it. The word cancer was something I never really understood until I got older and heard a friend of mine say that her father was dying from brain cancer. My grandmother fought cancer for fives years until she got tired of the never ending fight. That was my first real experience of death. Even though our family knew it was coming, there was no way for our family to prepare for how we felt at that moment. I was there in the hospital room when my grandmother passed and I've never seen someone look so peaceful after passing, she finally looked like she was out of pain. Even at the age of 15 there was still so much I didn't know about her sicken. It took a long time for me to get over the empty space in my life that my grandmother filled.
That year in school my English teacher made us read a book called Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, that book helped so so much in getting over the loss of my Grandma. This was one of my favorite books I’ve ever read because it has such a strong message and I related to Mitch in some ways. One of my favorite messages from the book was when Morrie expressed how he felt about his illness and his outlook on life, “When all this started, I asked myself, ‘Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?’ I decided I’m going to live - or at least try to live the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure.” (Albom, 1997, p.21) He also talks about his emotions “There are some mornings when I cry and cry and mourn for myself. Some mornings, I’m so angry and bitter. But it doesn't last too long. Then I get up and say, ‘I want to live. . .” (Albom, 1997, p.23) That just goes to show no matter how bad a
Seton Hall University
When I first heard the word cancer I was in elementary school and I had no idea of what it meant; all I knew was my grandmother had it. The word cancer was something I never really understood until I got older and heard a friend of mine say that her father was dying from brain cancer. My grandmother fought cancer for fives years until she got tired of the never ending fight. That was my first real experience of death. Even though our family knew it was coming, there was no way for our family to prepare for how we felt at that moment. I was there in the hospital room when my grandmother passed and I've never seen someone look so peaceful after passing, she finally looked like she was out of pain. Even at the age of 15 there was still so much I didn't know about her sicken. It took a long time for me to get over the empty space in my life that my grandmother filled.
That year in school my English teacher made us read a book called Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, that book helped so so much in getting over the loss of my Grandma. This was one of my favorite books I’ve ever read because it has such a strong message and I related to Mitch in some ways. One of my favorite messages from the book was when Morrie expressed how he felt about his illness and his outlook on life, “When all this started, I asked myself, ‘Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?’ I decided I’m going to live - or at least try to live the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure.” (Albom, 1997, p.21) He also talks about his emotions “There are some mornings when I cry and cry and mourn for myself. Some mornings, I’m so angry and bitter. But it doesn't last too long. Then I get up and say, ‘I want to live. . .” (Albom, 1997, p.23) That just goes to show no matter how bad a