SUNDAY SIX, OKAY? BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

From Patrick, of course, the Saturday Six, one day late.

1. Do you believe that Terri Schiavo should be allowed to die or that she should be kept alive? 

This is, of course, an agonizing decision.  I cannot speak for her family, or for her.  This is a decision in which an outsider has no business or place.  I cannot take part in the national mass hysteria over this.
 
2. Has the Schiavo case made you take any action towards creating a living will of your own?

I have had a living will of my own for many years.  My family is all aware of my feelings on this matter, and my partner will have the legal authority to make the decisions.
 
3. Let's forget what we know -- or more likely, what we think we know -- about Schiavo's condition.  If you suffered a brain injury that would leave you in a non-responsive vegetative state (whether Schiavo is in this state or not) and your doctors said that there was so much brain damage that there would be no hope of recovery, would you want to be kept alive no matter what?
The short simple answer is "no."

4. Has anyone outside of your immediate family ever asked you to be their "personal representative" to make such a decision on their behalf if they ever suffer a severe injury?  Do you think you could really make the decision?

The only one outside my family is my partner, and of course I think of her as family.  With several of my siblings I had to make this decision for my mother, and it was the hardest situation I've ever been in.

5. Do you have a special outfit ready for Easter Sunday?  Does your family have any special Easter traditions?

The short simple answer to the first part of the question is "no."  The answer to the second part is that my partner is Jewish, I practice no religion, so in this family we just eat a lot of chocolate eggs.  My family of origin has the usual baskets, egg hunt, etc.
 
6. What room of your house is the absolute messiest?  Would you ever let a house guest see it?

At the present time there is no part of my house that a guest would be permitted to see.  I would bar the door with my body, to the death, to keep houseguests from crossing the threshold.  This bears a large similarity to my answer to your first question last week, which I didn't post, as it was too late. This house is at its depth of unspeakable awfulness, brimming with pet fur and dust bunnies, piles of books and papers, heaps of laundry, etc.  There are times I myself don't know how I can bear it one more day.  And the only solution will be the imminent arrival of company.  This is not due to happen until June.  Heaven help us all.