Bob CollinsThere was a particular danger when Brittany Maynard announced in early October that she would kill herself in November, rather than suffer the agony of the cancer that is growing inside her head. What if November 2 came and she didn’t want to die?
It’s not that she wouldn’t have a choice; she does in Oregon, which has an assisted suicide law. It’s that she was so public in her declaration that a lesser person might be unwilling to suffer the slings and arrows — especially online — that comes with saying “never mind.”
A week or so ago, she visited the Grand Canyon, which may have been a reminder that you can be dying, and still have moments worth cherishing, pain and all.
So at least for now, apparently, she plans to keep living while dying.
“I still feel good enough and I still have enough joy and I still laugh and smile with my family and friends enough that it doesn’t seem like the right time right now,” she said in a video on her website The Brittany Maynard fund.” “But it will come, because I feel myself getting sicker. It’s happening each week.”
