A story told with compassion, anger, humor, and most importantly, profound love. The controversial and courageous true story of a mothers dark victory and a daughters love.
excellent!(from the cover)"two hours beforemy mother killed herself, I noticed she had put on makeup.THis shocked me,but it shouldn't have.Whatever the occasion, my mother liked to look her best.That was her way.Just as it was her way to die as she did-not when death summoned her, but when she summoned death."
Tyhis is the story of how Betty handles the Last Wish of her cancer ridden Mother to have control of her death. The prognosis is hopeless. This shows the relatioship between this Mother and daughter and the way they live or not.
This is the true story of how Betty Rollins choose to handle her death notice. I say notice as that is just what it was--the doctor walked in and said Malignant and Metastasis and walked out of the room. She has a close relatioship with her daughter and she is preparing her family for her death. But they are not truely surprised that she would pick the time and place herself rather than wait for life to pick for her. She puts on her makeup and decides that this is the time. I loved this story as Betty had alot of courage and loved life and her family so much. She decided to go with dignity--I believe she deserved dignity.. Lovely read.
In a time when tempers flare over Oregon's assisted-suicide law, and the debate still rages on both sides of the issue regarding Jack Kevorkian's physician-aided 'death with dignity' practice - Betty Rollin's groundbreaking New York Times Bestseller, Last Wish is an intimate, fiercely honest memoir of a daughter's struggle to come to terms with her terminally ill mother Ida's, decision to die. More than a simple examination of the ethical, spiritual, and technical aspects of assisted suicide, Last Wish is a celebration of Ms. Rollin's imperfect family, a passionate tribute to Ida's character and courage in the face of adversity, and a compelling argument for the right of the terminally ill to a humane and dignified death.
I must say that while this book certainly is sad, by no means is it written in a morose or depressing way. I found it incredibly poignant and down-to-earth. This family faced an impossible, emotionally grueling situation and dealt with their issues in the most courageous and loving manner possible. I give this book an A+!
I must say that while this book certainly is sad, by no means is it written in a morose or depressing way. I found it incredibly poignant and down-to-earth. This family faced an impossible, emotionally grueling situation and dealt with their issues in the most courageous and loving manner possible. I give this book an A+!
I enjoyed this book. It was well written and of course the author being a journalist you would expect that. The only thing was that it was kind of drepressing, as most of the book was about her mother having cancer and what she had to go through. But all in all I liked the book and intend to read others of hers.
What a beautifully written---and important--book! I thought her style of writing was perfect: it happily and vividly described her beloved mother's life, her marriage and career and business smarts, revealing a wonderfully stong, giving and vivacious woman, all while chronicalling the anguish of watching her mother's wrenching and painful experience with ovarian cancer. Every ounce of pain, despair and heartbreak shines through.
However, I especially appreciated the subject of this book--allowing a person to chose when to die. To be able to determine for onesself when enough is enough, when (because of illness and futile "treatment"), all that's left is just the awful lingering, to be able to end your own life on your own terms instead of continuing to suffer. Having watched both of my own parents suffer in their own last months of life, I completely identified with this daughter's decision to help her mother as she could. This is a five star book in both style and substance.
***** Five stars!
However, I especially appreciated the subject of this book--allowing a person to chose when to die. To be able to determine for onesself when enough is enough, when (because of illness and futile "treatment"), all that's left is just the awful lingering, to be able to end your own life on your own terms instead of continuing to suffer. Having watched both of my own parents suffer in their own last months of life, I completely identified with this daughter's decision to help her mother as she could. This is a five star book in both style and substance.
***** Five stars!
