This Is Us

My Mother Wants a Pill

Extreme longevity is a mixed blessing — at best

Photo by author

“Why can’t I just take a pill?” my mother has pleaded over and over since she turned 100. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

It’s a perfectly reasonable question, with no good answer. And that’s just not fair. Not to our family, nor to anyone who’s simply had enough of the…