EmptyTimCup
09-09-2009, 05:53 AM
:coffee:
The Author brings up some great points, I am not that close to any of my family, outside those I am living with ..... so this is not a big deal for me ...
what about the rest of you though ?
Living and Dying in Cyberspace (http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews-395-20090908.htm)
This week's editorial touches on a somber subject and there's a personal reason for that. This past week has been a tough one for me, with the deaths of two different family members. It made me stop and think a lot about life and how we live it today, and it also impressed upon me how the Internet has changed not just our lives, but also many of the little rituals surrounding our deaths.
The first to leave us was my cousin, Kim. She was only forty-seven years old, but she had been battling cancer for over a year, enduring chemo and radiation and fighting the disease as hard as she could. For a time, the treatments seemed to be working. She went back to work full time in January (as a teacher) and was able to finish the semester. Then, this summer, an MRI (another miracle of today's technology) came back with bad news: the tumors had spread and the doctors gave her only a few months to live. True to her spirit, she didn't give up. She traveled to noted cancer hospitals such as M.D. Anderson, which she was able to find out about through Internet resources, and pursued new treatments, but modern medicine failed her and she spent the last month in home hospice, surrounded by her loving family and many friends.
She also had friends she'd never even met, people who intimately understood what she was going through because they'd been through it themselves. Shortly after her diagnosis, she joined the CaringBridge web site (CaringBridge. Free Websites That Support And Connect Loved Ones During Critical Illness. (http://www.caringbridge.org)). It's devoted to providing support for people with serious illnesses and to their families. Each patient can create a personalized web site with a blog/journal where you can share your thoughts and experiences and a guestbook where others can leave you messages. It's a way people can keep in touch with the outside world at a time when they may be too sick to get out and do things. And even during the last days, when the person is no longer able to participate, it can be a real lifeline for the family and other caretakers.
(SNIP)
I've lost a few online friends to death over the years. The emotional impact was surprisingly strong, considering that I'd never gotten the opportunity to meet them in person. But then, maybe it's not surprising at all. After all, people cry over the deaths of celebrities and politicians who never knew they existed, and at least my relationships with my online friends went two ways.
I do think it's a good idea for those of us who have important online relationships to have a plan, in case something happens to us. My husband is involved in many of the same groups as I, and has met many of my online friends so I know he would notify people, and/or they would contact him, if something happened to me. I would hate to just disappear without a trace and leave people wondering what happened. That's another change the Internet has brought to our way of life - and of death.
What do you think? Are these changes beneficial? Or was the old way better, where such news was conveyed by phone or in person? Or does it matter? Have you ever had an online friend just drop out of sight, and wondered what happened? Have you lost any of your cyberfriends? Were you surprised at how much it affected you or did it seem less real than losing a "face to face" friend? In what other ways has the Internet changed things for the dying and their families, and the ways that the rest of us pay our respects? We invite you to discuss this topic on our forum at
WXPNews - Living and Dying in Cyberspace (http://www.wxpnews.com/BQACM3/090908-Forum-Discussion)
The Author brings up some great points, I am not that close to any of my family, outside those I am living with ..... so this is not a big deal for me ...
what about the rest of you though ?
Living and Dying in Cyberspace (http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews-395-20090908.htm)
This week's editorial touches on a somber subject and there's a personal reason for that. This past week has been a tough one for me, with the deaths of two different family members. It made me stop and think a lot about life and how we live it today, and it also impressed upon me how the Internet has changed not just our lives, but also many of the little rituals surrounding our deaths.
The first to leave us was my cousin, Kim. She was only forty-seven years old, but she had been battling cancer for over a year, enduring chemo and radiation and fighting the disease as hard as she could. For a time, the treatments seemed to be working. She went back to work full time in January (as a teacher) and was able to finish the semester. Then, this summer, an MRI (another miracle of today's technology) came back with bad news: the tumors had spread and the doctors gave her only a few months to live. True to her spirit, she didn't give up. She traveled to noted cancer hospitals such as M.D. Anderson, which she was able to find out about through Internet resources, and pursued new treatments, but modern medicine failed her and she spent the last month in home hospice, surrounded by her loving family and many friends.
She also had friends she'd never even met, people who intimately understood what she was going through because they'd been through it themselves. Shortly after her diagnosis, she joined the CaringBridge web site (CaringBridge. Free Websites That Support And Connect Loved Ones During Critical Illness. (http://www.caringbridge.org)). It's devoted to providing support for people with serious illnesses and to their families. Each patient can create a personalized web site with a blog/journal where you can share your thoughts and experiences and a guestbook where others can leave you messages. It's a way people can keep in touch with the outside world at a time when they may be too sick to get out and do things. And even during the last days, when the person is no longer able to participate, it can be a real lifeline for the family and other caretakers.
(SNIP)
I've lost a few online friends to death over the years. The emotional impact was surprisingly strong, considering that I'd never gotten the opportunity to meet them in person. But then, maybe it's not surprising at all. After all, people cry over the deaths of celebrities and politicians who never knew they existed, and at least my relationships with my online friends went two ways.
I do think it's a good idea for those of us who have important online relationships to have a plan, in case something happens to us. My husband is involved in many of the same groups as I, and has met many of my online friends so I know he would notify people, and/or they would contact him, if something happened to me. I would hate to just disappear without a trace and leave people wondering what happened. That's another change the Internet has brought to our way of life - and of death.
What do you think? Are these changes beneficial? Or was the old way better, where such news was conveyed by phone or in person? Or does it matter? Have you ever had an online friend just drop out of sight, and wondered what happened? Have you lost any of your cyberfriends? Were you surprised at how much it affected you or did it seem less real than losing a "face to face" friend? In what other ways has the Internet changed things for the dying and their families, and the ways that the rest of us pay our respects? We invite you to discuss this topic on our forum at
WXPNews - Living and Dying in Cyberspace (http://www.wxpnews.com/BQACM3/090908-Forum-Discussion)