I liked Daniel Callahan’s piece, [click HERE to read it] and I liked how he got me thinking about the war metaphors used with aging and death. As a Norwegian American, I grew up hearing the myths of my ancestors along with Bible stories at my Grandmother’s knee. The poem “Beowulf” is central to my work in hospice. Old Age was the elderly woman the god Thor could not beat in a wrestling match. Grey haired Beowulf could defeat the dragon but die in the process. As Daniel Callahan pointed out, as my ancestors underlined, a struggle *against* aging and death is a fight no one will ever win. Oh, but to struggle *with* them both–that is a source of wisdom. Even a god learns of his limitations, the old king gains the dragon’s treasure for his people.
As my grandmother entered her nineties, I watched her digest a lifetime’s experience, face up bluntly and boldly to what she thought she needed to, and dedicate herself to fixing what she could before she left this world. She did just that, right up until she died in her bed. I still regard hers as a heroic death I hope to emulate.
Anna Nereim has worked in hospice for sixteen years in Southern California
