Netflix - Famous Last Words

I came across an interesting Netflix show called Famous Last Words.  The host interviews very famous individuals who may be reaching the end of their lives due to age or illness.  The studio is empty except for the interviewer and the famous person.  Cameras are remotely managed.  There are no camera personal or directors in the space.  The interviewer reviews the path of the famous life getting the person's reflection on the events.   In the end, the interviewer leaves the guest alone in the space so they can leave a final recorded message to the viewers.  The interview is not aired until after the death of the individual.

I have seen 3 episodes: Eric Dane, the actor who had ALS,  Gloria Steinem, equality activist, and Jane Goodall, Primate Naturalist.  All the interviews were interesting and thought provoking.  Questions toward the end of the interview often address end of life issues and many I have thought about myself.

One question addressed to Ms. Stienem was something to the effect of “How do you feel about not being here at some point in the near future?”  She paused and thought about it.  She finally responded that it is hard for us to accept our own absence.  How well said.  I know I have had similar thoughts.  Something as simple as this. How is it that the building that I am sitting in now will exist when I am gone?  Sounds like an odd question, I know.  Setting the religious considerations of an afterlife as our focus after the death, my brain gets a little unsettled at the idea that this place will still be here when I am not.  I have no problem with the fact that our world has millions of places and things in it that are centuries old and have seen many generations pass by.  I get that easily.  But my mind finds it hard to accept my own absence while everything else remains.   

I find if I think about that idea of absence long enough ... I realize that nothing is really mine - that it is all only ‘borrowed' for a time. It makes accepting my absence from my place in the world a bit easier to  wrap my brain around.  A harder idea is absence from loved ones ... well ... I hit a wall when I think of that.   

If you have Netflix, I recommend the series.  The most heart breaking interview of the 3 so far was Eric Dane.  Here was a man who was probably in his 50s.  He still looked as strikingly handsome and fit at that age as he did when he was in Gray’s Anatomy.  And yet he was frozen in a wheelchair, barely able to speak.  Obviously, except for illness, he would have had many more productive years ahead of him.  He left behind a wife and 2 young children.  The other two ladies, Ms Stienem and Ms. Goodall, had lived really full and important lives - reaching very old ages.  While it is also sad to have such vitally active people lost to us, at least their lives were not cut short.

Anyway, next post will be a knitting update.  Time for a sunny topic.