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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2015)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015 Life and death on their own terms By KIT KETCHAM For The Daily Astorian ‘I ’ll be with you … if you want me to be,” I said to the frail gentleman on my couch, sitting propped up by his son and his brother. Almost immediately, I regretted my words. Did I really mean what I said? These three men had come to me that morning to ask how my congregation would react if they knew that “Jim” (not his real name) was preparing to cause his own death, under Washington’s “Death with Dignity” law. I had voted in favor of the law myself and supported the Compassion and Kit Choices organization Ketcham (formerly The Hemlock Society) with donations and advocacy. I felt strongly that adults who were in the last stages of a terminal illness and were capable of making the decision rationally should be permitted to end their own lives on their own terms. I knew that it was a several-month process, reTuiring certi¿cations from doctors acquainted with the patient and a pharmacy licensed to ¿ll the to[ic prescription. Jim had ful¿lled all the requirements, but he was still invested in life, wanting to belong to a faith community where he could socialize, giving and receiving friendship during the last months of his life. He’d visited other congregations and talked to other ministers, but he’d heard that the Unitarian Universalists were friendly and open to assisted suicide under the law. Was this true, he asked. “Yes, it is true that we are open to this option for the dying,” I told him. And then I added, “I’ll be with you when the time comes, if you want me to be.” He nodded and his son and brother seemed to sigh with relief. J im was in the last stages of esophageal cancer. He could hardly speak, swallowing was dif¿cult, and he took most of his nourishment in liquid form. But he was passionate about many social causes, including the environment and civil rights. He was independent, living alone, but he was lonely. His brother and son lived hundreds of miles away and his only nearby relative was his daughter, whose household was already full of kids and pets. Jim felt overwhelmed by the activity there. He had talked with his family members about his desire to end his own life when the time came, and they were supportive, though it was a hard agreement to make. As it turned out, Jim died quietly in a File photo courtesy of the Corvallis Advocate Protesters in favor of assisted suicide converge on the Oregon State Capitol. felt profoundly honored to be part of this conscious, peaceful end time. On “D Day,” we gathered at his home as ¿ve invited guests. I had a white rose and some of the water we use when blessing hospital bed, slipping away without needing children in our dedication ceremony. I to swallow a to[ic potion. While he had invited those present to tell this beloved been part of our church community, he’d man what he had meant to them. And I enjoyed friendships with several members invited him to say to us whatever he wanted who lived near him, going out with them for to say. There were many tears, hugs, words milkshakes, coming to church services, and of love and gratitude. attending musical events in our sanctuary. When all had spoken, I dipped the rose Several of us were with Jim in into the blessing water and his last hours, some right there touched his head, his lips, his I diSSed the holding his hand as he slipped heart and his hands, one at a rose into the away. Jim had his wish — the time. comfort of friendship and a blessing Zater “Thank you for your great pain-free death. of mind,” I said as I and touched his strength touched his head. “Thank you year later, another person head, his liSs, for your ability to speak truth in our congregation told his heart and his in love,” as I touched his lips; me of his desire to end his life “Thank you for your loving on his own terms. And this hands, one at a heart” and “Thank you for time, when I said “I’ll be with time. your helping hands,” touching you if you want me to be,” him with the rose and water on I had no qualms. This man his heart and his hands. had suffered from chronic illness much of “Are you ready?” I asked. He nodded. his life and recently had been told nothing We helped him sit on the edge of the bed. He else could be done. He discontinued his knew that he had to drink the potion down medications and undertook the process to all at once and that he would quickly feel end his life according to the Death with sleepy. He had already taken an anti-nausea Dignity Act. medication to help quell the urge to vomit. At I knew when this man intended to end that time, we would help him lie down and his life. I knew who else would be present. within a few minutes he would be gone. I knew that his friends and family members The potion had been prepared in advance were all invited to come say goodbye and ¿lled a small glass to the brim. He the day before what he called “D Day.” drank it down steadily as we waited, aware I knew what the procedure would be. I that this was his last conscious act. When he W riter’s N otebook A got sleepy, we helped him lie down, spread a blanket over him, and let him go. We sat quietly as his breathing slowed and his heart beat its last. His wife held his hand and kissed him. Together, we joined hands and said our last goodbyes to this dear man. After his heart stopped and we knew he was physically gone from us, a deep sigh seemed to sweep the room. Our dear one had left us in life but had given us a great gift — the knowledge that he was no longer sick, no longer in pain, no longer trapped in his failing body. And he had slipped away according to his own wishes. A s a minister, I have been present with many dying men and women. Assistance in dying is not the answer for many people, but it is a good answer for those who have the capacity to decide rationally and who have the specter of a painful and lingering death ahead. There have been several high-pro¿le stories in the news since the enactment of the Death with Dignity Act in states around the nation, stories of courage and compassion. The not-for-pro¿t organization Compassion and Choices has been an invaluable resource to me as a pastor and to those who have made the decision to end their lives on their own terms. For more information, see www. compassionandchoices.org The ReY .it .etFhaP serYes the 3aFi¿F 8ni- tarian 8niYersalist FelloZshiS in Astoria She retired to the North Coast in August 2012 and is Pinister ePerita oI the 8nitarian 8niYersalist Congregation of Whidbey Island, Wash. You think your winter was rough? By NICHOLAS KRISTOF NeZ YorN Times NeZs SerYice I n October, two young Americans set off on the most daring and foolhardy wilderness e[pedition since, oh, maybe Lewis and Clark. They were trying to become the ¿rst people ever to backpack from Canada to 0e[ico on the 3aci¿c Crest Trail in the dead of winter. Once before, in 1983, two people set out to traverse the trail in winter. They never made it. Their bodies were found a month after they fell off an icy cliff. A winter thru-hike of the 3aci¿c Crest Trail seemed impossible. The trail is covered by many feet of snow that time of year, and, even if the two e[- plorers managed to ¿nd their way, they risked triggering avalanches, plunging through ice into rivers, or simply run- ning out of food while trapped in bliz- zards. “3eople said it was a death sen- tence,” Shawn Forry, one of the hikers, told me. He had estimated half-jokingly at the start that they had a 17 East Africa when lions were would not both get buried in the same percent chance of succeed- stalking him. avalanche. ing. Both Forry and Lichter Even drinking water was a chal- But he spoke to me short- had hiked the entire 3aci¿c lenge. ly after he and Justin Lichter Crest Trail in summer — “You’re surrounded by frozen wa- reached the 0e[ican border itself an ultimate test of en- ter, but you don’t have easy access to it Sunday, completing their durance (fewer people have to drink,” Forry said. 2,650-mile odyssey — and thru-hiked the full trail than They used a stove to melt snow for surviving frostbite, bliz- have climbed Mount Ever- drinking water. zards, tumbles into frozen est). But they wanted to see The worst period, they said, came rivers and 1,750 consecutive it in another season. in the Oregon mountains when a huge Nicholas trail miles without encoun- “With the snow, there’s snowfall and below-zero temperatures Kristof tering a single other hiker. so much natural beauty,” left them with frostbitten feet. They 3erhaps it feels a little self-indulgent Lichter said. “It’s so peaceful. And the were able to warm up and avoid perma- to celebrate two guys who took a long frozen rivers have these strange ice for- nent damage, yet they still had another walk. But what a walk! Like the 4-min- mations.” 2,000 miles to go. ute mile or the free climb of the Dawn They used snowshoes “At times, you’re pulling Wall at Yosemite, this is something that and, in California, skis, your knee up to your chest seemed beyond human capacity — and while carrying loads of up Even to take the ne[t step, to get it then humans did it. to 45 pounds, including food the snow — and that’s drinNing above So let’s take a break from current (they resupplied every week in snowshoes,” Forry said. affairs and recriminations about human or so). Winter storms were Zater Barney Mann, the chair- venality to laud a triumph of human frequent. When it snowed at man of the 3aci¿c Crest Trail strength. night, they would get up ev- Zas a Association and unof¿cial It helped that the two men were ery 30 minutes to push snow historian of the trail, said that enormously e[perienced. Forry is a wil- off their tarp to keep it from challenge. after the frostbite incident he derness instructor for Outward Bound. collapsing on them. In white- had doubted that Forry and Lichter works on a ski patrol and said outs, they could barely see Lichter would succeed. he has hiked 35,000 miles, equivalent and stayed close to each other — e[cept “It’s the unrelenting cold,” Mann to nearly 1 1/2 times around Earth. when crossing avalanche zones, when said. “It’s the unrelenting snow. It’s the He gave up one long backpack across they had to separate to ensure that they moment-by-moment challenge of navi- T HE D AILY A STORIAN Founded in 1873 gation when everything is white.” One dif¿cult day came in 1orth- ern California when a storm dropped 10 inches of rain in 24 hours, winds reached 70 mph and both men tumbled into a swollen torrent of a river that left them and their gear drenched and frigid. Yet, in spite of all those challeng- es, they still urge people to try winter camping — carefully. “I really encourage people to get out in the winter,” Forry said. “You have it to yourself, and it’s so peaceful. But start with a day trip — that way if anything goes wrong, you’re near your car.” I’m delighted to announce that the winner of my annual win-a-trip contest is Austin Meyer, a journalism student at Stanford University. We’ll probably travel to India and Bangla- desh, although Congo is an alternate possibility. The runners-up are Ash- ley Bastock of John Carroll Univer- sity, Taylor Graham of Ithaca College and Sam Friedlander of University of 3ennsylvania. Thanks to the Center for Global Development for helping me pick Austin from a dazzling ¿eld of 450 applicants. Stay tuned for a great reporting trip! STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager