The Art of Aging by Sherwin B Nuland

Author:Sherwin B Nuland
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781588366221
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2007-02-27T05:00:00+00:00

Dear Mrs. Chatterjee,

Your very eloquent and moving letter has touched me in important ways. I hope that I can respond properly to it, and help you to understand the importance of your life as it is at the present time.

Sometimes, Mrs. Chatterjee, it is necessary that we live for others. Yes, it is true that the various incapacities that are taking hold of your body are due to the gradual changes of age. However, it is also perfectly obvious that you do not have any major disease process that is likely to cause you a great deal of suffering, at least not in the foreseeable future. As you describe your son and your granddaughters, and as I have seen Indian families who are friends of mine, I recognize the enormous importance that you, without doubt, fulfill in their lives. I cannot, with any conscience, suggest that as basically healthy a person as you, whose mind is clear enough to write such a beautiful letter, should even consider taking her own life.

You must live for the sake of those who love you, because they need you. They need not only the reassurance of your physical presence on this earth, but they need your wisdom as well, in ways that you may not really appreciate. I would have been devastated had my grandmother taken her own life in her mid-seventies, and it would have had a profound effect on my ability to face the future. What can I do to encourage you to think optimistically, with the assurance of how important you are to those few people who really matter in our lives, the few that surround us in the loving circle of a family and close friends?

Please think of the things I have said, and remember that your humanity and your life are a gift that you are giving. Also, please understand that I am telling you these things from a great deal of experience in such situations, as I have watched them develop over many years. You must believe me, and you must also believe in yourself.

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