I just finished reading: On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Because my ex-wife of 21 years and the mother of my 3 children is quickly being tak

I just finished reading: On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Because my ex-wife of 21 years and the mother of my 3 children is quickly being taken away by cancer. I am a man of science and I recognized much of what was going down, and she wanted to know it all, every detail, she doesn't want us to hide a thing. It's horrifying to share such things with a woman I have loved for 30 years. But she trusts me not to lie to her, she wants to know so she can prepare. One of her sisters works in a breast cancer clinic and knows how this goes all too well. We've all tried hard to help her but the reality is that at some point it's just too late. I feel for the caretakers who deal with this on daily basis, I can barely handle one case I can’t imagine dealing with it daily and thousands of cases. I have dealt with death in many forms, from instant "Oh by the way this person passed today" and over time. They all suck, but if you're lucky dealing with death over time can be a bittersweet gift for everyone involved. You have time to share and say goodbye and talk about things we all forget to say to each other each day. My children are devastated but again, none of us know when we'll go, a taxi driver could hit me while I’m walking to work tomorrow. The challenge is the balance, we each want and need to believe we live a life that includes tomorrow and these patients are told the number of tomorrows are much smaller then each of us assumes when we get up in the morning. It's the dichotomy of life, without death life means nothing, but with death comes so much grief, pain and sorrow. This story touches me because I too understand what's ahead and as it has unfolded I want to hate myself for being right. There is the science of what is happening and the real human tragedy of it all. This seems like a very strange article to run across on Hacker News and to be 100% honest I was here trying hard to avoid thinking about what is unfolding in my family’s life. All I can say is thank you to the poster for pointing this article out. I think there is an interesting juxtaposition between the knowledge every Hacker wants to know and how you can’t unlearn once you have learned something. Imagine the horror of understanding all the technical details of what’s happening to your loved one while being totally helpless to do anything about it. Some say that ignorance is bliss, and maybe it is for some people. I think the big question is do you want to know? Or do you choose ignorance? For me, knowing and understanding has always been a blessing with a certain weight that I am willing to carry, even if it means understanding how someone I’ve loved for 30 years is slowly dying. At least when she’s gone I will not have to guess what happened…