Incredible column: Boston Globe's Jack Thomas on facing death

[maumann]

This is heartbreaking and amazingly written. Hadn't seen it posted but it's worth your time.

I just learned I only have months to live. This is what I want to say - The Boston Globe

 

[UNCGrad]

I read that today as well. Highly recommended.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Thanks. That was beautifully written.

 

[Hermes]

Amazing read. It's an exercise everyone should avail themselves of. When I found out I had Covid, I wrote a letter to my son in case things went sideways. It's sealed up and with my will for him to read one day, hopefully about 50 years from now, but I really did appreciate everything a little more just in having looked back on life. I can only imagine with a life so much longer lived, it's all the more rewarding and painful.

 

[FileNotFound]

Those last couple of grafs. Wow.

Just a beautiful piece, with the gratitude he clearly feels for a life well-lived woven throughout.

 

[Starman]

"Star Trek: Generations" is roundly and probably rightly criticized for the somewhat awkward death scene of (SPOILERS) Captain James T. Kirk, but the dying line, "It was ... Fun," does ring true. As well as the epilogue line, a wide-eyed and wondrous, "Oh my."

This piece reflects both of those sentiments: appreciation and curiosity.

 

[heyabbott]

My daughters and I were with my wife(their mother) when she was told that she had days or weeks to live. She was 56 and as close to a perfect person as anyone has ever met. That was told to me by literally 100 people.
What I said to her may or may not have meant anything but my kids remember it. And they have told me, separately, that it helps them.
I told her that she won. She won life. She did everything she wanted to and was successful at it. She succeeded.
As a couple and as a family, we had no regrets other than the loss of a future. But as a life, she succeeded at life and won. That still resonates with our kids.

a life well lived is a fitting epitaph for someone who didn't die prematurely.

 

[outofplace]

"Star Trek: Generations" is roundly and probably rightly criticized for the somewhat awkward death scene of (SPOILERS) Captain James T. Kirk, but the dying line, "It was ... Fun," does ring true. As well as the epilogue line, a wide-eyed and wondrous, "Oh my."

This piece reflects both of those sentiments: appreciation and curiosity.

Sorry for the tangent, but it is odd how two people can hear a simple line so differently. I always heard the "Oh my" as the gravity of the situation truly setting in for Kirk as he realizes he actually is going to die.

Regarding the actual piece, it really was beautifully written, especially the ending.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

A former newspaper colleague I worked closely with was diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer a few years ago and was told he had just months left to live. He recorded a video that was one of the most moving, impressive expressions of love and gratitude I've ever seen. As he spoke he seemed totally at peace with the fact that his life was near the end. I expected perhaps a pause to maintain composure or a catch in his throat as he told his wife and children how he loved them and how proud he was of them. But he spoke without a quaver. It was an amazing show of inner strength.

He even offered up a bit of humor. A confirmed Diet Coke addict, he began the vid with a standalone shot of a bottle of his favorite beverage. Then, as he concluded the message a few minutes later, he picked up the bottle and opened it with a look of obvious relish.