WisePiper
WisePiper is going to the other side tomorrow morning. Today he asked me to say farewell and thanks to the Daily Kos community on his behalf. I hope he's pleased with this post.
Earlier today there was another diary posted about WisePiper.
To WisePiper (updated with WisePiper's response)
His response is quoted below.
From me to all of you...
I sent an email this morning to another Kossack asking him to post a short GBCW update for me, because my party is starting shortly, and I'm literally running out of time.
I logged in and saw your sweet post and had to respond.
I want everyone to know that these last weeks have been everything I could have wished for. I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to say farewell on my terms. The days have been filled with Mariners games, poker nights, quiet afternoons at the beach and raucous dinners with all my friends and my family,
I was overwhelmed by the responses I received in my original GBCW diary back at the beginning of June. We are a very special community, and I will keep you all in my heart until my last breath.
I had originally planned to take my cocktail tonight, but it must be ingested with an empty stomach. I'm not about to miss out on all the great food today, so I'll be making my departure Monday morning.
A volunteer from the organization Compassion and Choices will be coming by to mix the cocktail and oversee the process.
I'll drink my medicine, retire to the bedroom with my sons and their mother, and likely fall asleep within 5-10 minutes. Thereafter, I should be gone within the hour.
I'm not having any second thoughts. I do not fear what I'm about to do. In the face of a terminal prognosis, I am choosing the time and manner of my death. I am dying with dignity, which is my right. It should be yours as well. Once again, I implore all of you to advocate for physician assisted suicide in the 46 states that don't permit it. As I said in my original diary - No state should have the power to dictate how much suffering you and your loved ones must endure as you approach the end of your life here on earth.
I was the other Kossack referred to above. Here is what he said and asked.
It's Sunday morning, and my going away party begins shortly.
I'm literally running out of time to take care of last minute tasks. I had hoped to post a GBCW, update, but it's not going to happen.
I'm hoping you'll find some time today to say farewell to the Daily Kos community on my behalf.
If you can, please inform everyone of the slight change in plans: I need to have an empty stomach when I take my cocktail, and I want to enjoy the food and drink at the party. Consequently, I won't be departing until Monday morning.
My sons and ex-wife will be by my side when I drink it. A volunteer from the organization Compassion and Choices will be there to mix the cocktail and oversee the process. I should fall asleep within 5-10 minutes and be dead 30-60 minutes later.
So, if you can, please post a short diary for me today expressing my appreciation to all the Kossacks who were so generous with their good wishes and warm thoughts when I posted my original GBCW on June 1st.
I've attached a picture for you. This is the guy who was there at lunch with you the other day when you listened to my Voice of Vashon interview.
If your plans today preclude you from writing a diary, I'd appreciate it if you could write a little something after-the-fact, just so everyone knows I'm gone and that you all were in my thoughts to the end.
Thank you,
Here is the diary WisePiper posted on June 1st:
GBCW
At that time, I didn't know him but I read his diary. Here are a couple of quotes from it.
I live in Washington State. Washington is one of three states that has legalized Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS). The others are Oregon and Vermont. (Montana has "decriminalized" PAS - a distinction I won't belabor here.)
As a resident of Washington, I have the legal right to look Cancer in the face and say, "FUCK you! YOU don't get to dictate the time and manner of my death - I do."
...
To my fellow kossacks experiencing terminal disease in a PAS state, i invite you to envision what YOUR last day could be. And to those of you living in the other 46, I implore you to advocate and fight for PAS legislation. Death with Dignity should be a universal, fundamental right. No state should have the power to dictate how much suffering you and your loved ones must endure as you approach the end of life.
His diary touched me profoundly. I commented:
I'll be thinking of you and will
appreciate each moment a little more because of your sharing.
WisePiper replied:
John, I intended so many times to get
across the water and go to one of the meetups, but it just never worked out. I'll try to do it at least once in these next two months.
This started our kossack friendship. We tried to meet in person but it never happened. But I know him and I'm a better person because of it. I have a memory cocktail I will cherish for as long as I live.
He sent me an interview he did for Voice of Vashon. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to this cogent, riveting but heartbreaking interview.
Thank you WisePiper. You truly are wise!
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WASHINGTON STATE Open Thread
This is a community series giving our Washington Kossacks a virtual meeting place to discuss issues of concern to our state and share what's happening in our lives. Share your activist efforts, plug for your favorite candidate, share a LTE you've gotten published or educate us on the issues you are passionate about. Tell us an interesting or funny story, ask for advice from the community or share a recipe. Tell us anything that has happened out there. Nothing is off topic. Let's connect, unite and act!
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Mon Jul 27, 2015 at 9:36 AM PT: This is the one and only comment he made in this diary. Since the comment thread is so long and his comment is within I thought I'd put it in the main diary for all to easily see. I'm sure he'd wished he'd had time to respond to each and every comment made in this diary comment thread.
Safe travels WisePiper.
John Crapper,
Thank you so much for posting this. I can't begin to tell you all how deeply moved I am by all the expressions of support. You've all got me crying at my party, but, of course, it's my damned party, and I'll cry if I want to.
Farewell to all of you.
Greg