Theterrorofsicknessandoldageisnotmerelytheterror
ofthelossesoneisforcedtoendurebutalsotheterrorof
theisolation.Aspeoplebecomeawareofthefinitudeof
theirlife,theydonot askformuch.Theydonot seek
moreriches. Theydo not seek morepower. Theyask
onlytobepermitted,insofaraspossible,tokeepshaping
thestoryoftheirlifeintheworld—tomakechoicesand
sustain connections to others according to their own
priorities. Inmodernsociety,wehavecometo assume
that debility and dependencerule out such autonomy.
WhatIlearnedfromLou—andfromRuthBarrett,Anne
Braveman,RitaKahn,andlotsofothers—wasthatitis
very much possible.
“Idon’tworryaboutthefuture,”Lousaid.“TheJapanese
havetheword‘karma.’Itmeans—ifit’sgoingtohappen,
there’snothingIcandoto stopit.Iknowmy timeis
limited. And so what? I’ve had a good shot at it.”