Even though I'm in my early 20s, I've been terrified of this for as long as I can remember. Of dwindling, of suffering for a long time instead of dying a quick, timely death. Of watching myself lose all control over my body, to watch myself decay and be brought down little by little by the forces of nature. To have to admit defeat, to live without dignity, having to rely on others to perform even my most basic functions.

I've always thought this was absolutely disgusting. Not two years ago my grandmother finally died after years of agonizing and slow death... and I was relieved when she finally did. Even though no one has talked about it, I know we were all relieved. And yet it was expected of us to do everything in our power to sustain her suffering beyond reasonable means, to keep her alive against all reason because we loved her and didn't want her to die. If we had really loved her, we would have let her die long before she did. She was a strong, proud woman, and she did not deserve to go like that.

Old people have as much a right to die as they have to live. We should start talking about the subject openly and honestly. Because, like the article says, this is going to be a huge problem someday.