To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have...
There's a soliloquy in William Shakespeare's Hamlet where the title character contemplates what comes with death. Most every one on the planet knows the first line of the speech: "To be, or not to be: that is the question." The rest of the soliloquy, which I've heard referred to many times as "The Undiscover'd Country Speech," ponders what happens to us all after this life with the undiscovered country being death itself. The Bard's words were never as poignant as they are today.
Certainly, Terri Schiavo has crossed into one undiscovered country today, while her legacy serves to create yet another figurative one.
You know, I've learned a few things in particular from Terri Schiavo.
First, I've learned that how you lived your life isn't nearly as important to activists as how your death might serve them. That seems macabre, I know, but I honestly think it's true. Look at it this way: Terri Schiavo lived for 26 years before her 15 year silence began. In that short time, she lived, she laughed and she even loved. It was a short life, and it's something we've heard precious little detail about. The Terri that her family knew and loved was the person who lived those first 26 years---and not the last fifteen.
While her death is sad to many people from all walks of life and political affiliations, the person Terri was ceased to exist fifteen years ago. I don't say that to support any particular side in this issue. I say that because it's true. I mean, how many of us have seen the footage of Terri Schiavo in the hospice, staring into space and blinking and said to ourselves, "I never want to wind up like that. That is no kind of life." I'm willing to bet we all have...and we'd be right. That isn't any kind of life. She may have been physically present in the room, but the person she was left some time ago.
If you haven't done it, do it. It's that simple. It's the only protection you have to ensure that what your wishes are carried out.
Another thing I've learned is that every adult in America should have a living will and/or some kind of advanced medical directives. Everyone. If Terri had one this debate over ending her life would never have happened. Now, I know that thousands of married couples talk about doing things like setting up wills or living wills and never get around to doing it. I can only hope that the outcome of this case, whether people agree with it or not, serves to get people to actually do it instead of talking about it.
I've also learned that the law, however flawed, works when it needs to sometimes. How many appeals were there in this case? I've heard that there have been thirty appeals in the last seven or eight years alone? Let's accept that as true for the moment. What do we learn from those thirty appeals? We learn that case being put forth by Terri's parents just wasn't strong enough. I respect them for fighting for their daughter, I really do. However, at what point do you sit back and realize that you just don't have a case that's going to prevail in a court of law?
Another lesson in this case is the myth that people can "die with dignity." You know, I've always hated that phrase. How does one die with dignity, exactly? Can someone tell me this? There is no dignity in death. The notion that there could be is a complete fallacy. The dignity comes in how you lived your life when you were here, not how you decide to clock out.
What happens at death? Your body shuts down, your joints get stiff and you shit yourself. Where the hell is the dignity in that?? "Dying with dignity" is a lie sold to the masses to make euthanasia more palatable, and don't let anyone try to convince you differently.
The last thing I've learned from Terri Schiavo is that, even in death, her case is still very much alive. Even though she is no longer with us, you can bet that the court cases will still be coming. After the autopsy, I'm guessing that the Schindlers will sue Michael Schiavo in a civil case, claiming he was responsible for her condition. Much like O.J. Simpson was sued in civil court after his being found "not guilty." The legal battle that defined the existence of the Schindler and Schiavo families for the past fifteen years will continue on.
What happens now is the undiscovered country of sorts, at least for Terri's family.
Terri Schiavo will not be the last person we talk about in case like this. Next time it could be someone's husband or, God forbid, the child of two divorced parents. Right now, we can only hope that the law works as "well" as it did in this case. I know it doesn't help the Schindlers to sleep any easier at night, nor will it repair the hole in their collective hearts that's been there for fifteen years.
Prospero, a character in The Tempest, says that "we are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep." Terri Schiavo's existence on this Earth came full circle earlier today. She probably never knew how many people cared about her or how many lives she touched simply just by being at that Hospice.
Regardless of how you felt about Terri's existence, there is something that each and every one of us can take away from this and there are lessons to be learned. People on both sides of this issue have been dead wrong: Republican OR Democrat. It's time to dispense with the political rhetoric and get our own houses in order, figuratively and literally, to ensure that the furor which surrounded this case doesn't happen to another family.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
