Terminally ill deserve an option

I just read the letter from Kevin Banet in Pingree Grove opposing the proposed end-of-life legislation and would like to offer another perspective.

My 13-year-old dog and my 85-year-old mother both passed within weeks of each other.

My dog was in pain, had difficulty walking and gave me all those signals that said it was time and so my vet came to my house and I was there to hold her and tell her I loved her as she passed peacefully surrounded by love.

My mother was in pain, had difficulty walking, (she had cancer that had metastasized to her spine) and gave me all those signals that said it was time. She said she was jealous of my dog. Yet, there was nothing I could do for her but watch her suffer. She passed in the night, alone.

I know she would have liked the choice to end her suffering on her terms and surrounded by her loved ones. How am I so sure? She voiced it repeatedly. How is it that we are able to show more compassion for our ailing pets than our ailing parents?

The passing of SB 3499 offers an option, an option my wonderful mother was denied.

Cheryl Staats

Wonder Lake