Hanging out in the ER

-

This weekend, I ended up with a few others taking a friend to the ER. Don't worry, our friend is fine. So, there's nothing to worry about.

However while we were waiting for the results from tests that needed to be done, we couldn't help but overhear that the person in the bed next door was just given about 2 hours to live. It's an ER, so yes, we've seen it on NBC and we know that people do die. (All attempts were made by the doctors to deliver the news in a private, confidential way, but you're in the middle of a busy ER, that place doesn't exist.)

We all started talking about dying and death, quietly. None of us were in our 20's, and we realized that we're just beginning to think about our morality and questioning where will we be in our last hours?

This woman had her family with her, and ER staff was going to transfer to a private room and make things comfortable for her as possible.

But what about us? Where will we be? Alone? With loved ones?

I couldn't answer how I hoped I would die. I could only provide funeral directions. To which one of my friends quipped that I wanted everyone to have a party over my funeral. And, yes, of course, I do!

If a Catholic Church won't celebrate my funeral mass because of the music I pick, then we'll go to an Episcopal one. I want Like a Prayer as my processional hymn and Ray of Light as my recessional. Throw in Hosea. That's a pretty hymn. If I am outlived by Nikki, Laura, Nisi, Terry and a boyfriend/partner, I want them to plan the rest.

But, how much of a comment on my life would it be if I got to leave the church with Ray of Light playing and everyone singing "And I feel// like I just got home."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The day we lost Pluto

-
or (And your little dog, Goofy, too!) It’s official, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), founded in 1919, has defined (I never had that much time in my life to define something -- most of my identify and define tests were given in the time frame of 40 minutes, slackers.) what a planet is: A planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. According to this definition, Pluto has been demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite. Pluto is a dwarf planet by the above definition and is ...
Read more

Isaac

-
On "Confessions on a Dance Floor," there's a song Isaac , which I have fallen in love with. There's a great Yemenite chant intermingled in the song, which is translated into "if all of the doors of all of the generous peoples' homes are closed to you, the gates of heaven will always be open." Of course, it's controversial. Some rabbis has called her blasphemous (Madonna blasphemous?) since they believed the song to be about a 15th century Kabbalist, Isaac Lurier. It is forbidden to invoke his name in order to make a profit. Madonna's response is that she named the song after the cantor, Yitzhak (Isaac in English) Sinwani, for lack of a better name. (Seriously, who cares, Madge is R.C. and she's known for blasphemy. Didn't she really give JPII a heartattack that finally did him in in April?) Madonna's lyrics are: Staring up into the heavens In this hell that binds your hands Will you sacrifice your comfort Make your way in a foreign la...
Read more

Braciole

-
While I had time off during the Christmas break, I spent it working on a braciole recipe for the slow cooker.   In Italian American cuisine, braciole (the word is commonly pronounced /ˌbrä-zhəl/ from the Sicilian dialect) is the name given to thin slices of meat, usually beef, that are prepared as a roulade, a meat slice rolled around a filling then browned and braised. When I first had braciole, they were small individual servings, like the German Rouladen.  However in my search for a slow cooker version, I discovered recipes that made a large roulade versus the individual portions.  If Giada can do it, then so can I. The effort that goes into crafting the individual braciole is intense. Therefore, I was excited that most of the recipes called for a big roast sized braciole.  Cutting down the directions to a comfortable level of simplicity makes for a delicious meal without the hours of toil and let's the cook enjoy the food. I played with these two recipes, Bo...
Read more