I was over at my brother-in-law Keith's house this afternoon for a family get together (My wife's side of the family). A little over 6 months ago Keith was diagnosed with ALS. It was a big shocker because he's relatively young, mid 30s, and has always been an active and robust guy, though ALS is rather non-discriminatory in that regard.
We were grilling some burgers and Keith and I were in the kitchen prepping the add-ons for the burgers. I watched him try to slice an onion. He could barely hold it steady and he really struggled with slicing it, though he was his usual trooper self and gave it his best effort. It was painful to see because it was a blatantly clear sign how far the disease had progressed already. I took over the slicing duties and he began talking about the disease and how it's affecting him. Previously we hadn't spoken about it at all. It was kind of a verboten subject. Everyone knows he has ALS, and Keith knows everyone knows, but he's trying to live in the moment right now and not get too bummed about it or be pitied, so the unspoken rule is that nobody says anything about it to him unless he brings it up. It's not that he's trying to hide it, there's just no reason to dwell on it or feel sorry for him. I don't want to treat him as if he's dying either. He just wants to be plain old Keith for as long as possible.
It's hard to hold the emotions back though. Keith's a damn good man, good husband, and loving father of two beautiful little 3-year old twin daughters. He and his wife are leaving next week on a trip to Europe, their dream vacation. Probably their last. Soon Keith will be relegated to a wheel chair and will slowly and eventually waste away.
So I think I'd never want to go that way. I'd rather it be swift and merciful. But I'm not sure why I'd deserve better than the slow death sentence my brother-in-law has received.