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Years ago, my dad told me he was not making some plans because he wouldn't live long enough for them to play out. Now that I'm moving into my last active decade, I see what he meant. I don't plan for 20 years in the future any more, because I will probably be dead.
One of the plans I have made is to age in place. If things work out, they will haul me out of here with a sheet over my face. With that in mind, we have remodeled one bathroom to be handicapped accessible, refinished interior and exterior with materials that won't need maintenance during our lifetimes, and bought a king sized bed that doubles as an invalid bed, with raising head and foot. We can hire a CNA, or even near full time home care, cheaper than assisted living, much less a skilled nursing facility. Just this morning my wife and I were discussing the possibility of plumbing our house for medical oxygen, so the noisy oxygen concentrator could be in the garage, far from the master bedroom. All it would take is some tubing and connectors.
We don't need any of that stuff right now, and may never need it. It's sort of a situational savings account, setting the house up for our inevitable debilitation and death. And that's the optimistic scenario, peacefully drifting off to the end.
[mod cut - detailed instructions on suicide]My state has physician assisted suicide, which requires jumping through several hoops. Even if you follow instructions, most hospitals here are run by the Catholic Church, and any doctor who participates in assisted suicide can lose his hospital privileges. They have this fixation with it greasing your skids into Hell. It's better to avoid the religious bureaucracy. It's easy enough to say your last Good Night on your own terms.
Some people are very lucky. My mother's best friend died between one tick of the clock and the next. They found her on the back porch with her boot laces still in her hands. A quick heart attack, massive stroke, or aneurism and you are gone. Unfortunately, you can't plan for that. My dad hoped for a heart attack, but he died of lung cancer. It took agonizing months. My mother just refused to have the battery in her pacemaker replaced, which was a gentler and more graceful way to go.
I see a lot of people here planning and worrying about retirement. Do you ever plan and worry for when retirement inevitably ends?
Have you told other people what those plans are?
Last edited by VTsnowbird; 03-07-2019 at 11:44 AM..
I don't want to be morbid, but if I am ever widowed and alone and feel that I am starting to lose my mental abilities, I plan on putting a lot of sleeping pills in Haagen Dazs chocolate chocolate chip ice cream (my favorite) with the word "poison" on the lid (in case a caregiver or whoever decides to help herself) in the freezer. I figure that if I am ever that demented, I won't be able to understand what 'poison' means and will just reach for the ice cream.
Or I might just to decide to end it all for whatever reason and go out with a smile on my face and chocolate ice cream on my chin!
Last edited by katharsis; 12-13-2018 at 12:52 PM..
I don't want to be morbid, but if I am ever widowed and alone and feel that I am starting to lose my mental abilities, I plan on putting a lot of sleeping pills in Haagen Dazs chocolate chocolate chip ice cream (my favorite) with a the word "poison" on it (in case a caregiver or whoever decides to help herself) in the freezer. I figure that if I am ever that demented, I won't be able to understand what 'poison' means and will just reach for the ice cream.
Or I might just to decide to end it all for whatever reason and go out with a smile on my face and chocolate ice cream on my chin!
Good tip on the argon. I'm always on the lookout for something like that. If stuff like this was better known, people could make their own informed choices. BUT, you'd have to "go" together, or wouldn't the surviving spouse be held liable/complicit?
No more long-range plans. I'll plant a garden but not a tree, LOL (age 63). Thinking to take trips that require agile mobility sooner rather than later.
Dad died of a weight related heart attack in his mid 60's while using a treadmill. Like your mom's friend he was gone in an instant. I do not spend any time thinking about my own demise, but going fast would be preferable. Like breathing in Aragon or being incinerated by a comet. You know, the usual ways...
I like Albert Einstein's theory: aneurysms, that's the best way to go. Although Death by Coffee Ice Cream does sound tempting. And if you get brain freeze first, it might even help with cryogenics.
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