I hope you all stayed healthy, happy and safe during the break. The health girl is back with even more determination to raise our students’ interest toward healthy lives. So send me your questions and topics. Until then, I’ll get personal.
Unfortunately, my family suffered a loss less than a week ago. My saintly grandmother passed away after 72 years of vibrant life.
Being the first death in our immediate family of 28, we deeply grieved our loss. But with every sorrow, bonds are strengthened and lessons are learned.
Lessons all of us should learn:
The first: sign a living will. A living will is a statement one signs declaring whether or not one’s life should be extended by artificial means.
My family had the painful task of deciding whether my grandmother would rather die peacefully or live without communication or mobility. Though the decision tore at our hearts, we knew that my active grandmother never would choose to be bedridden.
We brought her home to rest peacefully with her loved ones. The day after she was visited by her final grandchild, she passed away.
While preparing the funeral services, a family member found my grandmother’s signed living will in a pile of papers. The will stated no artificial means should be used to expand what was left of her life. This miraculous discovery eased our minds. Our decision was the right one.
While volunteering at a senior home, she saw firsthand what life was like through tubes and monitors. She knew this was no life for her.
Twenty-four-hour caretakers, painful catheters, painful tubes in your nose and/or stomach and bed sores are a few of the costly and painful results of trying to stay alive. However, some choose to and live passively in bed for several years.
For your family’s sake, decide now and sign a living will either way.
The second lesson: even the healthiest life expires. At 72, my grandmother’s body was about as healthy as it gets. She walked and practiced aerobics daily. Her pantry held the least caloric foods. Her passions for music, volunteering and family were expressed continuously.
I suppose her brain could not keep up. She suffered three strokes, causing her brain to bleed and malfunction. In a way, her health actually hurt her because her thin blood bled more easily.
This type of stroke is neither preventable nor treatable. Unfortunately, her daily fitness regimens could not halt the day at hand.
Pessimistically, I could interpret this situation as a call to laziness. Since her health consciousness didn’t work, shouldn’t I become a permanent cushion on my sofa?
To the contrary, this situation calls for optimism. I feel the need to pass on her vibrancy to others. Like the Energizer bunny or one of those laws of physics, the energy will not die.
I chose to learn the lesson that death is not the end, rather a continuation. From the death of our loved ones, we should gain the perseverance to capture the good in them and pass it on; thus, living healthier lives.