I give these examples to emphasize that man has not basically changed. Death is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal fear even if we think we have mastered it on many levels What has changed is our way of coping and dealing with death and dying and with our dying tients Having been raised in a country in Europe where science is not so advanced, where modern techniques have just started to find their way into medicine, and where people still live as they did in this country half a century ago, I may have had an opportunity to study a part of the evolution of mankind in a telescoped form I remember, as a child, the death of a farmer. He fell from a tree and was not expected to live. He asked simply to die at home, a wish that was granted without questioning. He called his daughters into the bedroom and spoke with each one of them alone for a few minutes. He arranged his affairs quietly, though he was in great pain, and distributed his belongings and his land, none of which was to be split until his wife should follow him in death. He also asked each of his children to share in the work. duties and tasks that he had carried on until the time of the accident He asked his friends to visit him once more, to bid good-bye to them. Although I was a small child at the rime, he did not exclude me or my siblings. We were allowed to share in the preparations of the family just we were permitted to grieve with them until he died. When he did die, he was left in his own home, which he had built, and among his friends and neighbors who went to take a last look at him where he lay in the midst of flowers in the place he had lived in and loved so. In that country today there is still no make-believe slumber room, no embalming, no false make-up to pretend sleep. Only the signs of very disfiguring illnesses are covered up with bandages and only infectious cases are removed from the home prior to the burial Why do i describe such"old-fashioned"customs? I think they are an indication of our acceptance of a fatal outcome, and they help the dying patient as well as his family to accept the loss of a loved one. If a patient is allowed to terminate his life in the familiar and beloved environment, less adjustment is required of him. His own family knows him well enough to replace a sedative with a glass of his favourite wine, or the smell of a homecooked soup may give him the appetite to sip a few spoons of fluid which, I think, is still more enjoyable than an infusion. i do not minimize the need for sedatives and infusions and realize full well from my own experience as a country doctor that they are sometimes life-saving and often unavoidable. But I also know that patience and familiar people and foods could replace many a bottle of intravenous fluids given for the simple reason that it fulfills the physiological need without involving too many people and/or individual nursing care The fact that children are allowed to stay at home where a fatality has struck and are included in the talk, discussions, and fears, gives them the feeling that they are not alone in grief and offers them the comfort of shared responsibility and shared mourning. It prepares them gradually and hel them to view death as part of life an experience that may help them to grow and mature This is in great contrast to a society in which death is viewed as taboo, discussion of it is regarded as morbid, and children are excluded with the presumption and pretext that it would be"too muchI give these examples to emphasize that man has not basically changed. Death is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal fear even if we think we have mastered it on many levels. What has changed is our way of coping and dealing with death and dying and with our dying patients. Having been raised in a country in Europe where science is not so advanced, where modern techniques have just started to find their way into medicine, and where people still live as they did in this country half a century ago, I may have had an opportunity to study a part of the evolution of mankind in a telescoped form. I remember, as a child, the death of a farmer. He fell from a tree and was not expected to live. He asked simply to die at home, a wish that was granted without questioning. He called his daughters into the bedroom and spoke with each one of them alone for a few minutes. He arranged his affairs quietly, though he was in great pain, and distributed his belongings and his land, none of which was to be split until his wife should follow him in death. He also asked each of his children to share in the work, duties, and tasks that he had carried on until the time of the accident. He asked his friends to visit him once more, to bid good-bye to them. Although I was a small child at the rime, he did not exclude me or my siblings. We were allowed to share in the preparations of the family just as we were permitted to grieve with them until he died. When he did die, he was left in his own home, which he had built, and among his friends and neighbors who went to take a last look at him where he lay in the midst of flowers in the place he had lived in and loved so. In that country today there is still no make-believe slumber room, no embalming, no false make-up to pretend sleep. Only the signs of very disfiguring illnesses are covered up with bandages and only infectious cases are removed from the home prior to the burial. Why do I describe such "old-fashioned" customs? I think they are an indication of our acceptance of a fatal outcome, and they help the dying patient as well as his family to accept the loss of a loved one. If a patient is allowed to terminate his life in the familiar and beloved environment, less adjustment is required of him. His own family knows him well enough to replace a sedative with a glass of his favourite wine; or the smell of a homecooked soup may give him the appetite to sip a few spoons of fluid which, I think, is still more enjoyable than an infusion. I do not minimize the need for sedatives and infusions and realize full well from my own experience as a country doctor that they are sometimes life-saving and often unavoidable. But I also know that patience and familiar people and foods could replace many a bottle of intravenous fluids given for the simple reason that it fulfills the physiological need without involving too many people and/or individual nursing care. The fact that children are allowed to stay at home where a fatality has struck and are included in the talk, discussions, and fears, gives them the feeling that they are not alone in grief and offers them the comfort of shared responsibility and shared mourning. It prepares them gradually and helps them to view death as part of life, an experience that may help them to grow and mature. This is in great contrast to a society in which death is viewed as taboo, discussion of it is regarded as morbid, and children are excluded with the presumption and pretext that it would be "too much