Dying

From time to time in my life I have considered dying. I know I consciously considered it during the breach delivery of my first child. I am reading a book lent by a friend, "Refuge" by Terry Tempest Williams. It is a blend of her work as a naturalist and bird watcher, with her accompaniment of her mother in her dying of cancer. She includes the famous quote by the power-of-positive-thinking author, Norman Cousins, "Death is not the enemy; living in constant fear of it is." Seems true. But wouldn't it be nice if the death process was not such a messy one, or perhaps I need to change my perception of the process? Food for thought. I know Dwane worries about losing dignity, which I think is describing concerns about the same process. How can a terminal illness be lovely? hmmmm