It is not just death that unsettles us, of course. It is the process of dying also. The slow deterioration of body and mind, the pain of a spreading cancer, the prospect of burdening friends, an inability to control our movements, a tendency to forget recent events or the names of family members, the suspicion that loved ones tell us only half the truth to “protect us”—all this understandably frightens us. No wonder we sometimes say, “I hope it won’t take long. I hope I die of an unexpected heart attack and not a prolonged disease.” We would manage and orchestrate even our final exit. But no
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