Yesterday, I published an email from a person who had a "Notarized Declaration of Death with Dignity. Today, I received an email from him again with the following information.
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If you have your family, it is recommended that you discuss the contents with them.
It is common for family members to make decisions against the patient's will (e.g., begging for life-prolonging treatment) at the last minute.
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As a matter of fact, I am also planning to make a "Notarized Declaration of Death with Dignity," and the reason is exactly the "family".
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As you may know, I am the one who made the decision to "kill" my father.
This was a judgment based on my own beliefs, based on my own learning, knowledge, examples and "reason".
Even now, I have no regrets.
Nevertheless, it is true that it was a lot of pressure to judge other people's lives by my own beliefs.
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In contrast, my daughters, who will be the judges of my life, seem to be "completely unprepared.
Ebata: "Since I've been so clear about how I want to die, I want you to 'kill me properly' in a way that conforms to my will. You are my last line of defense"
Senior daughter: "Hmm, but I'm confident that if a doctor were to tell me in a strong tone of voice that I should prolong your life. I would easily snap"
Ebata: "Oh, my..."
Senior daughter: "Well, I won't resist for three minutes. I'm sure the doctor will break me down right away"
Ebata: "That's not good enough for me..."
Junior daughter: "In the first place, it's about your life, isn't it? You have to make sure everything is in order! You can take care of yourself, can't you?"
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Unfortunately, my daughters are the ones with the "reason" in this case.
It seems that I need to pre-install a "batch process" that will automatically activate when I am unable to express my will.
I have to be prepared for 'how to get myself killed' with that kind of determination.
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I have another parent (my mother) who is living in a bedridden state.
My mother has had the chance to make her own judgments about life-prolonging treatment once before, and she has expressed her opinion -- that she wants to prolong her life.
However, I don't know what my mother is thinking about now.
My mother is no longer allowed to express her "change of judgement".
Therefore, my mother's "final judgment" has become the principle and lock for my current actions (her care and life-prolonging treatment).
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The greatest lesson my parents left for me was -- no matter the pros and cons, the merits and demerits, the pressures and conflicts,
"I have to decide how to handle my own life"
that is the necessity of this "self-determined death", I believe.