h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-thompson26feb26.story
Hunters last dayan article written by his wife.
It answers questions I had. It was very generous of her to share it.
I wonderd if it was partially due to physical pain.

This man loved guns and took responsibility for his choices in all ways I ever noticed. *Not to be confused with acting responsibly at all times! He was a wild man and it seemed fitting he chose a gun and the time. He wants his ashes to be shot out of a cannon. They are working on making that happen.
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http://www.beliefnet.com/story/121/story_12143.html
This is th best article I have ever read on the topic of assisted suicide. This is a Relgious man but even if religion does not have a place in your life or way I think you will find no offence and maybe some beneift to reading this opinion from this compassionate writer.

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T. Shivano being in the news always worries me.
I want to make the choices I can and I want them respected.
I have no worry that my husband would do his best if required to see that my wishes are followed. I have it all in writing with the article above included and a letter that I sign every few months stating I have never wavered in thoughts or desires. I feel better having it all in writing. It is the kindest thing you can do for those who may be left with life-death decisions responsibility at some point.

Hi abbi!How're you doing?

Speaking of "wild man" (& the term gonzo has been used too), I just came across something yesterday - http://www.nugejava.com

Hi jaZZ
I'm fine, how are you?

I saw something on the news about Nugent going into the biz
He is on TV most weeks with his guns and hunting trophy shows
Each to his own.

Do guns and coffee mix?
I know what guns and alcohol tends to do
Ted is been very outspoken about being anti-drugs, not like gonzo.
Both are pro gun ownership.

Glad to hear you're ok abbi, I'm doing fine too! I certainly don't think guns &mix ...but are certainly better than guns & alcohol! Yes Ted's always been flamboyant & outspoken. I seem to remember him being a big advocate of bow(& arrow)hunting in the 70's. I suppose mainly because I'm "in a different space" musically these days I haven't heard all that much about him.

I first read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" during my first (extremely abusive and far too young) marriage, i feel i know something about him, he touched my life.

I am deeply moved by his wife's understanding of his mentality, and amazed at how brave she is.

I can totally relate to the situation and imagine myself and my loved ones being in it.

It's all very heavy, best dealt with by email, not on here. I would hate for someone to read this and think "hey, yeah, there's a nice, clean, easy way out!"

andandto all concerned.

*sigh*

zdt

Hey people!

Suicide is an extremely touchy subject for me. I tried it three times and thought about it pretty much a million times.

Hi Abbi

I read that first story, it was very effecting, if thats the right word! She had a great understanding of him and a great compassion for him. I hope her live continues to be fulfilling.

That was a very moving article about Hunter Thompson, abbi.

<>

Oh, I am so sad to hear that, Willem. My brother did commit suicide last year, and it's a touchy subject for me as well. I so understand it, and wish I didn't - but I would never ever do it, because I know now how the family left behind feel, even though the person doing it doesn't realise they will (or is unable to care, because of what they themselves are going through).

I hope I did not add to the distress of anybody

Especially you Adelaide
I have felt the loss of friends through suicide more than once.
Nobody as close as a sibling. It is terribly painful to accept

I want to be listened to when it comes to stopping medical intervention. Some might consider the line I have drawn as suicidal, but not me. I am thankful those closest understand my feelings and wishes and say they would not see it that way.

*I am not a believer nor disbeliever of reincarnation.
I sure do not want to take the chance of doing this particular life over again, as good as the good parts were no thanks!

Im just so chuffed to see you back with us again Abbiand if you ever did "come back" as it were, it would be as something nice! Im sure

I saw your post on that other thread, where you mention problems with this site?
I cant say Ive noticed them, but then again Ive been trying to get used to this new Windows XP! which is a lot better and easier ot use
Smudger,

No, I am fine, abbi. Well, not fine (the anniversary is tomorrow) but getting better, and I think it's important for me to face it... For a long time, I couldn't tell anyone how he had died, but my sons made me see that being truthful about it is important. I just found an old story I wrote in 1997, and scanned it to the computer yesterday, to clean it up, and perhaps send it somewhere. I had forgotten totally, that I had a character kill himself, and that my viewpoint character was very condemnatory about it, although in the circumstances I've set my characters up with, the man's action is very reasonable! (It's a science fiction story about a world that has just literally come to an end. My viewpoint character plans to do the same when all hope is gone.) But mostly, I didn't understand at all!

I am just very concerned when I hear of anyone else who's struggling with the urge...

Oh wow - bless your heart Adelaidethe anniversary has to be rough.
"I am just very concerned when I hear of anyone else who's struggling with the urge.."
Yes of course, me too

Fascinating you wrote a story about suicide earlier.
Have you ever thought of life having a pre-emptive way of softening the worst of blows? Some of my worst nigtmares (daydreams, stories) ended up emotionally helping to prime or prepare me for a shock that is to come.

I hope it is not insensitive.
I do not mean anything creepy , responsible or fortune telling, just the barest(1/100) of emotional preparation for the unimaginable.

Impressions (thru various means) of tragic shock can make it more real when it does happen.
Sounds odd -- the unreal could make something seem more real .
Just as likely to have the real seem unreal.
Life is strange!
We take it in however we can.

Today is the anniversary by the calendar, 2nd March, but because there was a 29th February last year, I am counting tomorrow as "it"... Today, I received a card from his girlfriend - she and her family were so wonderful when it happened. But I had fallen out with her, because she has *got engaged* to someone else, within 8 months. (I didn't tell her how I felt, but I think she knew.) So, this card was wonderful.

The story I was working on yesterday was written in 1997. A more relevant one is one I revived from 1998, in January '04, just before it happened. The story is about a woman who has a phobia of the sea, and learns after being forced to take a harbour trip by her new boss, that the guy who helped her when she wigged out, is her brother reincarnated - they had been siblings in a life that ended in a shipwreck... not the Titanic, but in between that and the Lusitania... I wrote that story in January.

On the morning this day last year, as I got my brother's letter from the letter box, I had a thought which seemed very odd at the time, but since then, I have wondered if it was like a warning from God...

I thought, as far as I knew out of a clear blue sky, that I had never had any warning at all of the deaths of my parents. I idly wondered why that was, as I walked up the path, and opened the letterbox. I saw my brother's handwriting, I ripped open the letter (the first I had had from since since 1995, when we lived in different cities) and read without my glasses. Then, of course, I went inside, got my glasses, read again, and started phoning everyone, little knowing that when I read the letter it was between 5 and 7 hours too late to phone anyone!

Onr of the things he said was that he thought that I was probably the only one who would even care! He was so utterly comprehensively wrong. That's why I want to stress to anyone who thinks that, that they can't ever possibly know. Even his landlords from a previous flat turned up to the funeral and spoke... He mentioned his girlfriend and said that she "didn't seem to care any more" and that I "might want to phone her" and tell her. She and her father and step-mother were so kind, especially her father - I like to think of Garth looking on and seeing that, and realising that so many people cared, loved him.

" he thought that I was probably the only one who would even care! He was so utterly comprehensively wrong. That's why I want to stress to anyone who thinks that, that they can't ever possibly know."


That is so true, a good message to hold onto.
You never know the impact or who is silently noticing , gaining strength, warmth or something positive from your existance.

Absolutely. Everybody matters to someone, often many someones!

How true.

I bet he would never have dreamed we would be talking about him here for instance, that people from other parts of the planet, who never got the chance to meet him, are aware of his existence and sympathise with his pain.

RIP

And for you Adelaide, it's not easy, you are coping very well.

zdt

Thank you, Terri, for your sympathy. I appreciate it very much.