My Dad had a DNR and had made it abundantly clear that he did not want to spend his final years plugged into a machine. So when he had a stroke at 94 that left him bed-bound and unable to talk it was in many ways a blessing that he was able to be euthanized after only a few days.

I recall the Doctor going through the motions by asking him if dying today was his choice. He tried mightily to respond but all I could see was a tensing of his muscles while his made grunting noises. The doctor took that as a Yes, and shortly was putting him down like a family pet.

I only arrived on that day so did not get to see the several days between the stroke and death. My sisters had been with him, however, assured me that he had made it clear to them that he did NOT want to continue to live like this. But I'll always wonder.

He and I spoke almost every day and it was clear he was ready. In fact he made changes to his meds about a month previously because the side-effects were debilitating, though his GP made it clear to all of us that those same meds were very probably keeping him alive. So it was neither a surprise nor that difficult to deal with when he had the stroke.

But I will always wonder.

Memories of my maternal grandmother are only that of a small, frail, quiet women. Over the years she declined and eventually ended up in a retirement home near where she'd homesteaded. I was in my early teens the last time I saw her. She'd had several mild strokes by then and though still able to walk and talk to some degree it was no way to live. I recall her grabbing my hand and pleading "I want to die". It was heart breaking. And a strong case for euthanasia.