I'm Gonna Live,Live, Live Until I Die

I have a good friend who is thinking about dying. She's thinking about end of life issues like hospice, stopping chemo and tube feedings. These decisions aren't being made abruptly or in a vacuum. She's been tumbling them around in her mind since her cancer diagnosis in April, 2009. It's hard for me to work this through with her, but I consider it a privilege to be able to do so. We can talk about anything now. It didn't used to be like that. We've been friends for over 20 years, through thick and thin, better and worse, sickness and health, richer and poorer and have raised children together. Our families have been friends since our little girls were in diapers. We tag-team parented. We called each other for help any day or any time. Sometimes we were having an emergency and other times we just needed a friend. I know that it's rare to have a really good friend these days. I do not take this friendship for granted. She's had up til now a satisfying, if not perfect, life doing things she loved--backpacking, camping, reading, quilting, to name a few. She live, live, lived and now she may die. As I have walked with her during this time and have learned much. I have learned that some of the things I once thought were important aren't important at all. The things that really count are our relationships; with God, our husbands, our children and our friends. It's important to be open about the things that God has done for us. Her life has been a testimony to these things, especially in the past year. She's not afraid to die. She knows she will be with Jesus, probably soon. She's not afraid to talk about dying and I'm not afraid to listen. These things are important. Who won "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards is not.