The End of Life Education group will meet again on Monday, July 22.
End of Life Education is the name decided on for the meetings arranged by a volunteer group of concerned community members who want to complete their lives with the same quality and responsibility as they lived. We will be meeting for several months and are discussing all topics related to the end of life.
If there is something that we haven’t touched on and you would like to have a program or guest speaker, please mention it at one of our meetings.
On Monday, July 22, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., we will be at the library for a talk by a well-known 40-year practicing attorney and now Pagosa Springs resident, Constance d’Angelis, who litigated the decisive case of Terri Schiavo that affected millions of people around the world.
A court in the state of Florida ruled that Schiavo’s guardian, her husband, was permitted to remove a feeding tube and allow her to die. Schiavo had existed in a comatose-like state for more than a decade. She was only 26 years old when she originally collapsed.
There are interesting end-of-life concepts that can be discussed, but this also became a culture war, medical ethics dilemma and religious conundrum culminating in vicious political, partisan and activist conflict. This discord found its way to the U.S. Congress and the president of the United States.
There is so much that d’Angelis can tell us about this case. She will try to focus on the interests of the people who are present. I hope to see you there.
I want to give everyone a heads-up that we have something set up a month in advance. Dr. Joanna Estes will be speaking on Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the library’s large meeting room.
Estes is an amazing woman who will share relevant information from her long experience of being an MD and dealing with death. Her main emphasis will be Colorado’s End of Life Options Act, which covers access to medical aid at the end of life. She will answer questions. She will also sign do-not-resuscitate forms that require a doctor’s signature.
Feel welcome to join us. We have been meeting for four months, but participation varies for each speaker and time. We are not a closed group.
End of life is a difficult topic which seems to be better handled when fellow humans join together to deal with it, since all of us are faced with it. Most people find that topics like this are empowering and helpful for living life to the fullest. It can be very positive and affirming. We hope to see you.
