If I hear the phrase 'feeding tube' one more time ...

I've avoided this topic in the past few weeks because the air is so thick with rhetoric I've been choking. There's clearly nothing new to say on living wills (except get one now), persistent vegetative states, the spontaneous passing of willfully unconstitutional legislation at the national and state levels, and the visibly painful decline of the Pope. Much of the nation and the world isn't listening anyway, transfixed by the shiny spotlight on one family's personal tragedy while issues that really involve the public as a whole fall by the wayside.
But it seems to this girl, that, while it's important to fight to live when there's a reasonable chance of recovery, when you're young, for the sake of your family and those who love you, that the most loving and wisest thing we can do is to let go with grace and dignity and acceptance. And while I know that these three qualities are seldom found in modern life, I'm going to keep looking for them, if only because no one else seems to be.