1. Eric was looked at as an artist instead of someone who was sick
2. If Eric wasn’t fighting he was stoic.
3. Beth's husband couldn’t afford health up until they applied for help
4. Beth having to deal with both her own experience and her children's experience with dealing with the death of their husband/father
5. Beth found comfort in her religion, which was Buddhism and played a major role. Gave her insight on what’s to come for his last days.
Many in our society look to religion to give them hope, answers to their questions, strength and awareness. Religion you can say is one of the teachers of our society and has been for centuries. Most feel that is where you look to when your dealt with hardships just like Beth had. Beth’s husband was diagnosed with advanced metastatic kidney cancer. Beth found comfort in Buddhism to give her guidance through her husbands last days of living due to cancer. It’s safe to say that this helped her through a ruff time and if hadn’t been for her devotion to her religion she wouldn’t have been able to deal with the situations cruel reality. Some aren’t mentally stable when dilemmas like death pass them around. I’ve seen some runaway and drive their car as fast and far away as possible to avoid the fact that death has come along in their loved ones life. Beth didn’t run, she stood strong, stood by her husband with a solid state of mind with help from religion.
Eric was the one who was diagnosed with a sickness, you can tell from his physical appearance but you couldn’t tell from his actions. He knew his time has come and made his last days what he wanted them to be. If he wasn’t fighting through his illness, something that many do not do, he was stoic. He would continue with his love for art and continued to stay expressive. That’s amazing and wonderful to hear, I think highly of him even though I didn’t know him. His actions gave a heroic story. He wasn’t the one that seemed most affected by the death that was soon to come, those who were experiencing it first hand with there eyes were the ones. Many mope around that individual who is sick, feeling pity for them and showing it through various ways. "Do you need this or that"? “Oh my god I’m so sad". “What am I going to do"? These comments are very common; I’ve heard them and probably have said one of them myself. But if you analyze the situation that’s in front of you it seems stupid. Yes you are losing a loved one but that loved one is dying. What’s worse? Exactly.
What sparked my attention about Beth's experience with death is that she dealt with it in her own unique way. She did what was most comfortable for her and her husband. By listening to others experience you can see the distinction between the way someone deals with problems and they way you yourself would. Compare and contrast the two. With something as natural as death, it’s still something that hurts. You can hide and isolate yourself from the world but Eric showed that through courage one can end their life on a good note. Sometimes death isn’t a bad thing. like the saying goes, "somethings happen for a reason". Eric I know left the world and left each person in his family with life lessons and love that they all will treasure.
I felt your paragraph on religion was very insightful. My parents are very religious themselves so i can understand your view well. i agree with you on the fact that she looked to Buddhism to help her through this tough time and being from a religious household my self i have sen and done this many times. Any time my mother would see something like war or death on television she would give thanks to god for blessing her with a good life (even though she should kind of be thanking my dad for having a good job and working hard) however i feel that both beth and my mother's religion is what keeps them standing strong during times where many people do not.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of depth put into this piece. This piece made me realize that sometimes showing pity isn't the best way to go and just having a genuine talk with the person could be better than pity. for it is that person that is dying and not you, so you should just act as you normally would. The quote, " You can hide and isolate yourself from the world but Eric showed that through courage one can end their life on a good note. Sometimes death isn’t a bad thing." made me realize that it is up to that person to choose how they want to act like before they die and how they want their loved ones to remember them by. I, Also believe that sometimes dying isn't a bad thing. It is just something everybody has to go through, so why not make the most of the time you have left on this world.
ReplyDeleteThis piece was very well written as well as moving. Although Im not really religious, reading about Beth and how Buddhism comforted her after her husbands death was really inspiring. I can see there was a significant amount of depthful thought put into this. People with religious beliefs have a profound sense of security, like a safety net for tragedy. I thought the most interesting part was when you refered to people who do not have religion in their lives, and without that to console them when life gets tough, they just can't handle it
ReplyDelete"Some aren’t mentally stable when dilemmas like death pass them around. I’ve seen some runaway and drive their car as fast and far away as possible to avoid the fact that death has come along in their loved ones life."
Well done.