Personal Reflections on Terminal Illness after Twenty Years of Teaching a Death and Dying Course

Abstract

The late L. Eugene Thomas applies his personal experience of facing a terminal illness to the teaching of courses in Death and Dying. He realized that the content of the courses as he taught them had emphasized the human search for meaning in Death. The other part of the course covered the anticipation of severing relationships and the meaning of the loss to those left behind. He found that the first part was easy; the second part was the more difficult for him. The surge of creativity that often accompanies the acknowledgment of limited time to live brought with it an urgent need to make relationships right, and to ease the loneliness of dying. The author urges the continuation of introducing students to the philosophical concepts that lead to an authentic life, particularly the honest awareness of death in life and the search for ultimate meaning. He would emphasize also the importance of leaving relationships as part of the process of dying, and its role in creativity.