quitter

Illustrations © Barbara J Holzapfel

 There are relentless chants echoing around death beds of the terminally ill all over the world. They go something like this..

" If you quit you lose. If you fight you survive. Be a fighter not a quitter. "

Many family and friends will have opinions regarding how you should live your life, as well as how you should end it: fight tooth and nail to be victorious, or lean gracefully back with reflection and gratitude.

With the myriad of emotional pressures one may face when dying, the shame of 'quitting' can be a challenging stigma to deflect during this tender and confusing time.

When and how do we gracefully shift our conversation from, "You can beat this", to "You have done well"?