Advertisement
So much of the credit for “A Year to Live” goes to Rod and Norene Oppriecht and their family, who allowed us into their home — and into their hearts and minds. And readers have made it clear that Brian Voerding’s artful and compassionate storytelling and James A. Bowey’s haunting, compelling photography had a powerful impact.
“This is such a spiritual series. I have cried every morning, but yet reveled in the joy those two have shared together,” one reader wrote.
I know exactly how that reader felt. I first read the series alone over lunch at a local restaurant. Tears streamed down my face and hit the table. Wait staff tried not to look, but I could tell they were nervous about a man seemingly distraught over a plate of curried rice.
Here are a few more responses:
-“Your series on the Oppriecht family has been so incredibly moving and well written that I just had to e-mail you all! End of life and hospice seem to be such taboo subjects. Your series has been a beautiful view into end of life issues as well as a strong woman and family.”
-“I find myself waking up in the morning wanting to read what happens next. I read each story with tears in my eyes.”
-“This is a beautiful story of one couple’s journey through life, that gives breath to their marriage vows and shows us a different view on the end of life train. How fortunate that we were allowed to share these very intimate feelings, family discussions and pictures.”
-“Hopefully, it will change some people’s minds about dying with grace and dignity.”
-“It has been years since I lost my sister to cancer … Following the funeral, I had to be strong for her husband and children. This series has taken me back and given me the opportunity to mourn. Even though I would cry after reading each article, I looked forward to the next one.”
-“It makes you realize just how short life is and how fortunate we (readers) are that she was willing to share her life with us. My husband passed away a year ago and we did not have the chance to say goodbye. As they say, ‘you should live your life as if this is your last day on earth,’ because you never know what tomorrow may bring.”
-“It makes me cry every day.”
-“Their saga has already helped me spiritually.”
I quit counting after 30 positive responses and started measuring by the thickness of the stack — half an inch now).
But one letter criticizing the project helped me gather my thoughts about Rod and Norene.
“(The) pictorial detail of a person turning into a skeleton served no one well. I’m sure if she could see how ugly her death became, she wouldn’t want it to seem heroic. Death is the worst of enemies!”
That was the beginning of an anonymous letter written on beautiful stationery complete with autumn leaves. It arrived Monday morning, the final day of the series. One of the rare negative comments, it went on for three pages ending with the dire prediction that if we continue doing things like this, “the death of the WDN is nearer than you suspect.”
Death — for all of us — is nearer than we suspect. And the letter writer, who mentioned having had uterine cancer, is also right on another point: Norene Oppriecht didn’t see her death as heroic, nor did she want to be seen as a heroine — rather, as a woman who decided to face death with the same independence and grace she had lived her life.
The letter writer said “death is the worst of enemies.” It doesn’t have to be Death for the Oppriecht family — Norene, in particular — was simply another step in a life well lived.
Marilyn Johnson’s book “The Dead Beat” details the curious art of obituary writing and avid fans who are addicted to reading obituaries. She surmises people read obituaries to answer only one question: How did you manage to make it through? In other words, the attraction of obituaries really isn’t how a person died, but how someone lived.
Death wasn’t really the greatest enemy, as the one upset reader suggested. The real danger — the one we all might face — is not having lived as who we really are, especially in the sunset days of our lives.
And if Norene were here, I have to believe she wouldn’t see herself as a heroine for foregoing chemotherapy or letting a couple of journalists chronicle her death. She would be spending time in a canoe, gardening, playing Scrabble with Rod or spending time with her family — in other words, living exactly how she died.
|
More News: |
It served me well wrote on Jul 19, 2007 9:34 PM: