Saturday, February 02, 2008

Stephen Moser on making the best use of the time he has

I really appreciated Stephen Moser's After a Fashion column in the Austin Chronicle this week. At first I was going to write "I was moved..." but then I realized it wasn't "moved" so much - (though I was). "Moved" as a word is more of a knee jerk reaction word people use when it comes to thoughts about dying. But this is about living life with gusto while dying. Which we all should be doing everyday anyway. I really appreciate his writing about this publicly. I appreciate the candor and the humour. And I really appreciate the decision to live full tilt as long as he can, rather than live defined by the medical sick system. Not happy about any of it, not happy he drew the short straw - but happy he's generously giving/sharing his writing all the way through it.

excerpt:
.....And what exactly will all this accomplish? Oh, yes, it will extend my life. "Buy time," as they say. But to what end? It's a complicated matter for me, much more complicated than the simple question of whether I want to live or die. I am going to die from this cancer one way or the other, sooner or later. There is no estimation of how long I can expect to be around if I choose to undergo the treatments and "live." And what would living be like?....

Read it.

3 comments:

Lisa Rosman said...

that's a pretty amazing piece. dang.

Forrest Preece said...

Yes, Stephen told me about his situation months ago and like you, I want to avoid the cliches in my reactions.

But yeah, you gotta admire him. He's fighting the good fight. The man keeps up appearances, I'll tell you that! You go, Stephen! Bling all the way, baby!

(Why do such wretched things happen to such nice people?)

Anonymous said...

xoxox Stephen