Mom’s Death Diner

by Roberta Ness

Let’s share a coffee and a chat about death

I’m so glad you stopped by! Your timing is perfect – after the Diner’s morning rush. Let’s sit at that red checkered tabletop in the corner booth - your favorite. Just made a fresh pot of coffee – smells yummy right? It’s real hot so sip carefully please. By the time you’re done, I’ll have told you why I invited you today.

I’ve been wanting to open up to you since dad passed a year ago. I know you and I have fears we’ve been hiding about death and dying and grieving. It all seems so forbidden, so difficult to talk about. But it’s a New Year and now I’m ready.

My 2025 New Year’s resolution is to talk openly about the things you and I have been afraid to ask – even to think about.

Dad decided to take his own life because he felt he had no other choice. He had Alzheimer’s and would have ended up in a nursing home living as a vegetable for years. He stopped eating and drinking and suffered through two long weeks of hunger and thirst - a prolonged death that wouldn’t have been necessary if we’d had access to drugs. That injustice left me sad and angry…