tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post5035066121222713382..comments2023-12-02T02:26:05.528-08:00Comments on JimPintoBlog: Death DynamicsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-28918257911867559262015-05-01T09:36:07.548-07:002015-05-01T09:36:07.548-07:00This was related to me by my sister:
A good frien...This was related to me by my sister:<br /><br />A good friend, fairly old lady, was dying, and her friends and family were gathered, singing. As she was laying there, very peacefully, my hand was under her back, because she seemed to want to get up. She turned, looked directly at me and said, "I have died." She did not say, "I am dying". As I continued to comfort her, she smiled as she looked up and said with a smile, "The door is closed and the gate is open. I have died". And then, about 5 minutes later, she died, very peacefully. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-15736306720682644792015-04-11T10:39:27.853-07:002015-04-11T10:39:27.853-07:00Jack, we've known each other for a long time, ...Jack, we've known each other for a long time, and you'e always beeb a wise, happy and contented man! <br /><br />Thank you for your answers to all the questions! Yes, it's important to think on these things while able.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-34958390188682204072015-04-11T10:36:55.203-07:002015-04-11T10:36:55.203-07:00Phil, thanks for the good book suggestion!Phil, thanks for the good book suggestion!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-76820720307248204852015-04-11T10:36:25.567-07:002015-04-11T10:36:25.567-07:00I appreciate your responses to all the questions. ...I appreciate your responses to all the questions. <br /><br />Yes, one learns from everything, as long as one lives.<br /><br />Sweet dreams for you too, dear frined!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-48083714016890648452015-04-11T10:34:20.144-07:002015-04-11T10:34:20.144-07:00Thanks, John!
Yes, we'll all die, and can be ...Thanks, John!<br /><br />Yes, we'll all die, and can be happy and joyful in the uncertain length of time we have left. I'm 77 now, and in good health, and learning to be a better person everyday. <br /><br />You and I are blessed, indeed!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-61923562043614892752015-04-11T10:30:39.032-07:002015-04-11T10:30:39.032-07:00Your answer to the questions were wise, beautiful ...Your answer to the questions were wise, beautiful and engaging. Thank you!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-30635625900178305792015-04-11T10:28:01.318-07:002015-04-11T10:28:01.318-07:00Thanks, Papa Jimbo, for the bright and breezy comm...Thanks, Papa Jimbo, for the bright and breezy comments! And the wonderful advice. <br /><br />I read and re-read your comments. Thank you!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-83757178006643217212015-04-11T10:21:23.306-07:002015-04-11T10:21:23.306-07:00Yes, Rodger, death will inevitably arrive for ever...Yes, Rodger, death will inevitably arrive for every one of us. Some people avoid thinking about it, but they will eventually face it.<br /><br />At 83, you are indeed blessed to be as happy and healthy and well occupied as you are. Enjoy the present, dear friend!<br /><br />Enjoyed your Mark Twain quote!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-81781879454637112542015-04-11T10:17:20.519-07:002015-04-11T10:17:20.519-07:00Thanks for sharing!
Yes, it very much depends on ...Thanks for sharing!<br /><br />Yes, it very much depends on how our health is as we grow older. I've seen a lot of old people, with various debilitating illnesses - far beyond living a happy life, but our medical system keeps them alive. On the other hand, I've seen a beautiful, vibrant old lady who surprised me by saying (proudly) that she was 100 years old.<br /><br />Living to 105 may be a good thought, but you're right - depends what shape you're in. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-78330905686375089552015-04-11T10:01:39.565-07:002015-04-11T10:01:39.565-07:00Thank you, Christina, for sharing this, and for be...Thank you, Christina, for sharing this, and for being one of the passengers on my train of life!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-59596029079439394572015-04-11T10:00:08.194-07:002015-04-11T10:00:08.194-07:00Thanks for the beautiful poem, Ken Ball!Thanks for the beautiful poem, Ken Ball!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-19755271781470564302015-04-11T09:58:50.500-07:002015-04-11T09:58:50.500-07:00Thanks for the Steve Jobs quote!Thanks for the Steve Jobs quote!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-42600517902761489212015-04-11T09:57:44.261-07:002015-04-11T09:57:44.261-07:00Gary, you are indeed blessed to feel that you can ...Gary, you are indeed blessed to feel that you can discuss death openly and freely. I did look up Tony Snow, as you suggested - he died at 53, or colon cancer.<br /><br />Yes, our culture brings many false expectations which make avoid the subject of the inevitable end.<br /><br />I loved the way George Carlin talked about death (and everything else). Here's a quote: “The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What’s that, a bonus?"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-57660236570587411502015-04-11T09:43:23.397-07:002015-04-11T09:43:23.397-07:00Gary: This triggered our talk. I'm interested...Gary: This triggered our talk. I'm interested in your "quantum physics" point of view. I have a friend who believes in "many parallel universes" - though I haven't quite figued that out yet.<br /><br />Yes, the "engage" exercise is to get thinking bout it, rather than simply avoid the subject. It's good to consider the inevitable end-of-life we all face.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-38920011612263825782015-04-11T09:38:54.054-07:002015-04-11T09:38:54.054-07:00I suppose, the main reason to think about it is to...I suppose, the main reason to think about it is to save your family the problems that may come up.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-13292348402148481002015-04-11T09:36:37.057-07:002015-04-11T09:36:37.057-07:00Jim, I'm 77 - 10 years ahead of you. I'd l...Jim, I'm 77 - 10 years ahead of you. I'd like to make to whenever, as long as I have good health.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-69742581003620056402015-04-08T14:22:46.503-07:002015-04-08T14:22:46.503-07:00LA Times Sunday Magazine Section "The Califor...LA Times Sunday Magazine Section "The California Sunday Magazine" had a fascinating article - Death Re-designed:<br />https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-04-05/death-redesigned<br /><br />A well-known design firm, a corporate executive, and a hospice director work on the idea for a software app that will allow a person to make good preparations for death and provide structured information for family and loved ones to make arrangements. Excellent narrative on how the idea developed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670437428300830000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-42993101989990118532015-03-31T19:41:23.554-07:002015-03-31T19:41:23.554-07:00I received this email but do not know who wrote it...I received this email but do not know who wrote it; I wish I knew so that I could thank them. It is so appropriate for this subject.<br />Enjoy!<br /><br />The Train <br /><br />At birth we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel on our side. However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone. <br />As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant i.e. our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of your life. Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we don't realize they vacated their seats. <br />This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells. Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers requiring that we give the best of ourselves. <br />The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life. <br />I wish you a joyful journey on the train of life. Reap success and give lots of love. More importantly, thank God for the journey. <br />Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train. <br /> <br />~Christina <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-13018243070727987542015-03-29T12:36:43.470-07:002015-03-29T12:36:43.470-07:00To me death is not morbid and I have no problem di...To me death is not morbid and I have no problem discussing it. However it is very sad for those of us who are left alone without our better-half. I know this well having lost two husbands. The only reason I don't want to marry again is that I cannot bear to lose another one. <br /><br />As for my own life, i want to keep what is left of it as happy as possible. This entails doing all that I can to keep healthy. Fortunately for me, I come from a long-lived family. Grandpa died at 96 and my Dad was only 90, but he was a smoker.<br /><br />When it is time to go I think of my great Grandmother. She was living alone in a large house, went out to enjoy her flower garden at age 98, and simply fell over and died. The mailman found her while making his deliveries.<br /><br />But then there is always the possibility that I could come down with something horrible like Lou Gherig's disease. So I recently talked to my doctor about his willingness to help me with assisted suicide should that happen. He obliged, as this is legal in both Washington and Oregon. Only two doctors have to claim that the illness is terminal.<br /><br />About your question of "How long do you want to live." I might say 105 right now, but then again I might wish to change my mind when that time came around. It would probably depend on what shape I was in at 105. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-63920815535937037592015-03-29T12:31:59.973-07:002015-03-29T12:31:59.973-07:00Jim, your subject of death is applicable to the wi...Jim, your subject of death is applicable to the widest possible audience; every living soul. It is the one truly democratic event in the life of every living human. All eventually die without prejudice or preference as to race, nationality, color, ethnicity, or national origin or for that matter without regard to religious inclination. We all receive death without signing up for any government program. Death is the one personal event that no power can deprive us of.<br /> <br />Trying to be factual for the Christian readers who assert that even Jesus had to die before he ascended to Heaven, they must be referred to Second Kings 2:11 which relate Elijah going to Heaven in a fiery chariot and the good book later says Elisha accompanied him.<br />Modern theologians quibble over Elijah arriving at Heaven before Jesus got there to create the place. Nothing in religion seems to go without controversy.<br /> <br />Jim, many of the questions you have posed has been answered in my earlier life. My first wife Barbara and I were advised that she had only a few months to live at age 32. How should we navigate the last few months while final life and death preparations were made with a six year old daughter looking on? The ravages of brain tumors become obvious, even to a six year old, in the final weeks.<br /> <br />We kept our daily schedules outwardly in tact with as much together time with our daughter as possible. Burial sites were selected and funeral arrangements made without our daughter. Those events that made Barbara sad, I took care of alone. Her only other living relatives were her father and a brother which she decided could visit her during the last few weeks since they lived near the hospital. We all slept well the last night as our daughter had gone to visit her favorite grandmother. The June morning broke bright and clear as all was well with the world. Barbara had died in her sleep without pain. I went over to grandmother’s house to tell my daughter that her mother had died. Lots of tears flowed in that conversation.<br /> <br />Your questions are more pertinent for folks that are not in close personal relationships at the time of their demise. Most old folks, like me at 83, are free to select death options to suit ourselves. I like what I am doing in retirement and would keep on doing it up to the last day. I would sleep well the night before, rise early for a good breakfast with friends and party until the grim reaper arrived.<br /> <br />Being a non-believer, I expect about the same afterlife as Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorn Clemens) which I will paraphrase here. Upon my death I expect to return to the place from which I resided before life and to the best of my recollections it was not an undesirable place.Rodgernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-5498549678676683682015-03-28T09:20:44.065-07:002015-03-28T09:20:44.065-07:00On The Passing of a Friend’s Loved One
In our com...On The Passing of a Friend’s Loved One<br /><br />In our community of the four score and more<br />A member’s passing brings on thoughts galore<br />Was the passing quite abrupt or painfully slow <br />A ratio of grief and relief; we may never know <br /><br />To the surviving partner, we stammer and hesitate<br />We offer condolences—attempt to commiserate<br />But from recent family losses; we may extrapolate<br />A likely deep-felt wish from any departing mate<br /><br />Couples bridge the topic of the ultimate event<br />Plans are more in order as we become further bent<br />So! A mate’s likely request as that last breath is gone<br />Is hope that the lifelong partner will simply carry on<br />Ken Ballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-72743744424043448322015-03-27T16:59:13.170-07:002015-03-27T16:59:13.170-07:00Thanks for raising this important subject, Jim.
W...Thanks for raising this important subject, Jim.<br /><br />We can begin to live now if we lighten the load. By doing a Life's Review now and focusing on letting go of our harmful (and often unconscious) attachments. <br /><br />Forgive ourselves of real or imagined transgressions. We cannot undue our mistakes. Most were necessary to help us grow. Worrying about yesterday drains the Life Force from our bodies.<br /><br />Forgive others. Drop the grudges that steal our breath away. In the first few moments of this process, we feel lighter and full of energy.<br /><br />Ask for forgiveness of the living and the dead. A biggie. Oh, the ego resists this one more fiercely than the others. Feel compassion for those who cannot let go of their anger and carry these weighty chains around each day.<br /><br />Take on a work larger than yourself. The ego will be terribly offended since he is the only thing that exists. When really he doesn't exist at all except in our little heads. A calling to help others frees us from the grave of our pettiness and opens us to the infinite universe of possibilities.<br /><br />Take care of the paperwork: the medical and financial. The passwords and goodbye wishes. Our precious documents and pictures and stuff. Tidy up the store. This is an act of loving kindness to one and all.<br /><br />Life will be larger and lighter. Death will be easier..not easy...but easier.<br /><br />This short list could take the rest of our lives whether measured in days or in decades. It is simple yet very difficult to do. Start now. Enjoy the benefits. Life is waiting for you.<br /><br />Enjoy the journey.<br />Papa Jimbonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-85415549324255964792015-03-27T16:16:48.962-07:002015-03-27T16:16:48.962-07:00Responses to your questions:
1. What will you do ...Responses to your questions:<br /><br />1. What will you do immediately? Will you quit your job? Will you tell your family?<br /><br />Luckily, I have no job. Of course I shall tell my family—and anyone else who will listen.<br /><br /><br />2. Will you stay home? Or, will you travel to see loved ones?<br /><br />I’ll stay home.<br /><br /><br />3. Will you get your affairs in order? Or leave that for your family to do?<br /><br />I’ll do whatever I can to get my affairs in order, to relieve others.<br /><br /><br />4. What will you do on your last Saturday? Will you sleep well that night?<br /><br />A bottle of French wine will help. Sleep well? Of course.<br /><br /><br />5. Who will you choose to be with on Sunday morning, a few hours before noon?<br /><br />It is best, I think, to be alone to go into that dark night.<br /><br /><br />6. What will you do in the hours or minutes before noon? Walk on the beach? Lie in bed and wait?<br /><br />Not important. The life beyond this life is more important. One can say that the afterlife is a figment of religious thinkers, but too many have been there and come back to think it fiction.<br /><br /><br />7. Do these reflections bother you? Or help you to understand yourself?<br /><br />No bother. Important to handle this while able. Jack Grenardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-69865364423025616092015-03-27T11:01:29.094-07:002015-03-27T11:01:29.094-07:00A must read:
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Mat...A must read:<br /><br /><br />Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End<br />Book by Atul GawandeA Bessler Family Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285948315093254182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719650308494063095.post-16676072301652845652015-03-27T10:09:46.002-07:002015-03-27T10:09:46.002-07:00What will you do immediately? Contact family and f...What will you do immediately? Contact family and friends for a get together party to celebrate the life I have lived. Will you quit your job? Yes <br />Will you stay home?Probably not but would see the places I enjoy with my wife hopefully. <br />Will you get your affairs in order? Estate Planning is done <br />What will you do on your last Saturday? Will you sleep well that night? Yes<br />Who will you choose to be with on Sunday morning, a few hours before noon?My wife<br />What will you do in the hours or minutes before noon? Walk on the beach? this sounds good with my wife at the same place we were married. <br />Do these reflections bother you? Not at all. Or help you to understand yourself? I am content with my life and the choices I have made; though all were not the best but I learned from them all. Sweet dreamsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com