In response...

I wrote this email in response to an article written by Steve Lopez of the LA times

Hello Steve,

My name is Jon Visitacion, and currently I'm a High School Youth Coordinator/pastor for a church in the south bay.  This past Summer, I interned as a chaplain in a hospital setting and experienced being spiritually present with patients and loved ones going through some of the darkest times of their lives.

When I came back to my church, I gave a testimony about my experiences, which led to one of the church members handing me an article dated back on 7-17-11 titled "Floundering in the Dark" and dealt with the business of dying.  From your article, I can relate from the 'outside looking in' that dying is a bit more complicated in terms of emotions and finances.  I got to work with a hospital team called "palliative care" where all of the diagnoses and options of care were laid out on the table.  It is done in hopes that the patient and family's wishes are fulfilled to the best of their ability, being completely informed of each direction the doctors, nurses, and chaplains can go.  With that said, I saw a patient who, with the support of her family, requested to be brought back to life at all costs.  I couldn't imagine the cost that the family incurred by being in MICU for months or the multiple ER visits.

I guess that is all to say that I understand what you mean when you say the "business of dying." It is a business, and in your definition it is meant by the last few years/months/weeks/days that there is a cost, and as we age we do not prepare ourselves for the emotional or financial cost as we get closer and closer towards the end of our life.  Although we may not age well, we must try to make the attempts in whatever way we can. 

What gets people through the business of dying is the support of family, friends, and their faith.  Like how you wrote that your father fell to the ground and couldn't get up and then your mother laid beside him in the dark, we hope that there will be someone who holds us when we're alone in the dark.  I really appreciate the words you wrote, and will be keeping you in my prayers as you go through this journey with your father. 

Take care, and God Bless,

Jon