Angel of Grief

Angel of Grief at Stanford University
 

 I recently finished a book by Sherwin B. Nuland that I highly recommend.

 

His book addresses the contemporary issues in end-of-life care

 

in such an eloquent way, I wanted to share some of his thoughts with you. 

 

The National Bestseller is entitled,  How We Die ...Reflections on Life's Final Chapter.

 

Sherwin B. Nuland, MD,  was Clinical Professor of Surgery at Yale University,

 

until his retirement in 2009.

 

The following is an excerpt found in the Epilogue of Dr. Nuland's book:

 

"And so, if the classic image of dying with dignity must be

 

modified or even discarded, what is to be salvaged of our

 

hope for the final memories we leave to those who love us?

 

The dignity that we seek in dying must be found in the dignity

 

with which we have lived our lives.  Ars moriendi is ars vivendi: 

 

The art of dying is the art of living.  The honesty and grace

 

 of the years of life that are ending is the real measure of how

 

we die.  It is not in the last weeks or days that we compose the

 

message that will be remembered, but in all the decades that

 

preceded them.  Who has lived in dignity, dies in dignity.  William

 

Cullen Bryant was only twenty-seven years old when he added a final

 

section to his contemplation on death, "Thanatopsis, " but he

 

 already understood, as poets often do:

'So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.' "