Hillbilly Elegy

opposite: Her white blood cell count
continued to rise, and some of her organs
showed evidence of severe stress. Her
doctor explained that she had no
realistic chance of living without a
ventilator and feeding tube. We all
conferred and decided that if, after a
day, Mamaw’s white blood cell count
increased further, we would pull the
plug. Legally, it was Aunt Wee’s sole
decision, and I’ll never forget when she
tearfully asked whether I thought she
was making a mistake. To this day, I’m
convinced that she—and we—made the
right decision. I guess it’s impossible to
know for sure. I wished at the time that
we had a doctor in the family.