Today, I decided to kill my father.

We have the medical technology to extend life long past the point where earlier generations would have perished. The question is, “should we?”

Four days ago, my father had a stroke.

These days, a stroke isn’t a guarantee of impending death or even permanent impairment. If a stroke victim receives timely medical treatment and was in pretty good health before the stroke, then he has a reasonable chance of meaningful recovery.

None of this is true with my father. He is not in reasonably good health.

He lives alone, in a basement apartment. The landlady helps out with looking after him and so does his neighbor. Back when he had a car, he would sometimes give give the girl across the hall a ride so that they could both perform some chores. He was driving long past the point that it was safe for himself or others on the road, but driving was his freedom and it was hard to take that away from him. The final fender bender that totaled his car put an end to his driving.

Lately, he hasn’t been eating much. A PSW (Personal Support Worker) comes by in the morning and makes him some oatmeal and then will help him out with cleaning himself if he hasn’t been able to do that on his own. Meals on Wheels…