There are two kinds of folks in the world, and no value judgement intended -- those who have had a whiff of being outside of the body, and those who ain't had a whiff they can remember or care to think of.

Anyone who has knows that Terry Schiavo will be much happier when she has a shot at recycling, or going off exploring, or whatever it is you believe happens after the body's energy-grid folds and you can finally get away from it.

Those who never have see only deathful blackness as her fate and are understandably outraged at such a possibility. The idea of slipping into permanent unbeing is horrible and compelling; but it ain't so. To them, living as a vegetable is better than the not-existing of death. Any sensation is better than no sensation.

But get over it. If Terry Schiavo dies from the sleepy dream like checkout process of starving, she will be fine. If she dies because she gets drowned in a huge stack of reporters, she'll be fine. If she dies because her brain stops functioning at some point, whatever the precipitate cause, she'll be fine. When you die, you'll be fine, too.

At least she isn't being offered a violent trauma as her exit. That can really mess up your judgment about what to do next.

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