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Week 7 | lookback

“Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.” -Steve Jobs

This quote particularly stuck out to me in Steve Jobs’s Stanford address. Death is a part of life that we all fear because it is the final part of our life’s journey. As humans, it is only innate to fear or even dread death because we have worked so hard in the duration of our lifespans developing our fullest senses of self, creating intrinsic and meaningful relationships, and finding value in our impact on society. It is the absolute and definitive end to the cumulation of all of our live’s hard work, acquisition of knowledge, triumph over stressors, and cognitive development. Through the shared experience of death, one thing often repeated is: “they lived a good life”. It is this “they lived a good life” mentality that makes the road to our shared destination worth traveling. The construct of the uncertainties of death naturally drives humans to reflect on their lives as dignified and worth living. 


The hospice portion of chapter 12 on page 290 of this weeks reading particularly stuck out to me because my grandma had a hospice nurse live with her up until her death. Our text defines hospices as: “an emphasis on the quality of life of an individual opposed to impending death...with the goal of keeping the person’s mind as clear as possible at all times.” I believe that my grandma’s hospice caretaker made my grandma’s final months on Earth as comfortable and bright as possible. She asked my sister to create a cd with my grandmas two favorite songs Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti & Spearhead and Lou Bega's Mambo No.5 so my grandma could listen to it while she worked out. I hear these songs and think of her. She practiced spiritual reiki massage techniques to ease my grandmas pain. She even arranged weekly visits with the whole family and made sure we were all around to visit. I will never forget my grandmas hospice nurse and her truly caring touch and her gentle impact on my grandma’s final days.

Comments

  1. Ms. SandraOctober 8, 2018 at 10:32 PM

    That is awesome , I hope to have a nurse like that too :) You are right about not wanting to know about death, but unfortunately, is a destination everyone must live. It is scary to think about it, but I am hoping that I could be self sufficient to the end and die in my sleep of heart failure or have a wonderful nurse like your grandma to take care of me. :)

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  2. Jay RamadanOctober 9, 2018 at 11:36 AM

    As strange as it sounds, death is an interesting topic. It really has been debated on and talked about for as long as humans have been able to think. What happens during and after? And what a profound quote by Steve Jobs, I'd expect no less from one of our time's greatest minds.

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  3. Todd FitzpatrickOctober 10, 2018 at 2:28 PM

    Your grandmother's hospice nurse sounds like an amazing lady. Believe it or not, you're story helped me remember how important third party beings can be in creating a culture of love and affection, such as nurse to patient and, for me, teacher to student. In times of heartache for one, such as your grandmother, or in my case a student who loses a loved one at an early age, it is important that they feel a connection of intense harmony between them and us, and their families in their times of distress. thank you for sharing.

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