Assisted death has been all in the news in South Africa, since Archbishop Tutu made some remarks about it. I'll tell a story here -- not of assisted death, but of the grace to permit someone to die a natural death. The evening that my late wife Mirjam died, a nursing sister called me up. She said plainly: “I'm sorry to tell you that your wife has died.” I asked her: “What was the cause of death?” She said, “We really don't know. It was so sudden. The panic button was next to her on the bed, but she didn't touch it.” She said: “We felt that we could have revived her, but she'd asked the Professor not to intervene. He gave us instructions not to.” I said: “Thank you very sincerely. You did the right thing.” OBSERVATION: That was the celebrated Professor Jacobs, who himself has passed away now. Personally, I admire the transparency and courage of this nursing sister, though I do not know her name.
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