I'm a nurse with that sick, twisted sense of nurse humor we tend to have. My maternal aunt has been on a ventilator for about 6 weeks after a COPD exacerbation; some of that time has been trached but I couldn't tell you how long exactly. One of the cousins has been *that family member* we all hate who has fought to keep a sinking ship from being buried under the waves. I've given as much advice as I could and been ignored, "because I killed our grandma last year when I let her go to hospice at 85 with ALT/AST levels in the 4,000 range." Yes. THOUSAND.

Long story short, my good-cousin called me today to tell me the family is taking the aunt off the vent this week and she'll pass very quickly. That Family Member is inconsolable. My good-cousin, who called me, told me, "Mr. Fuzzo, That Family Member hates me right now because I'm sitting here drinking a soda, watching Dirty Dancing, and thinking about the best day this week to kill Mom. I wish I could feel pain, but I know I won't until mom passes."

I'm super sad to be losing a crazy old lady of a family member but proud of my cousin for having the same dark sense of what's good and right in this world. She's a social worker, if that matters at all. It sucks my aunt suffered for as long as she did on a ventilator, but I'm grateful my cousin gets to be there with her at the end.