The same day I published my blog about rites of passage, I went to visit a 93-year-old friend of mine who is dying of colon cancer. I asked her how she was doing. “Not well,” she replied. “I’m waiting for my sons to get here so I can say good by, and then I plan to do away with myself.” “Is it the pain?” “No, I have medicine for that. I’m just so tired. I do nothing but eat and sleep. It’s time for me to go.” The next day I went to visit another elderly friend in an assisted living center who had fallen and broken her hip. I worry that she won’t walk again and that this is the beginning of a downward spiral. When I got home, my husband and I went to visit my niece and her family. Zeus, the family dog who had welcomed both of their girls into the world, was feeble and in pain and had quit eating.… Read More »