Lifeâor perhaps I should say deathâwas so much easier in the old days.
As end-of-life researcher Joanne Lynn puts it, life-threatening illness would âstrike without warning and you get through it or you donât.â
Effective treatments were few. Doctors would often prescribe âremediesâ such as bloodletting, purges, enemas and blistering, and âmedicinesâ such as mercury, lead and arsenic that did more harm than good. Many were positively horrific.
George Washington died after he was treated with blister beetle extract applied to his throat and he was drained of about 40 percent of his blood volume.
There were guides like Ars moriendi (âThe Art of Dyingâ), a popular work originally published at the time of the Black Death, that encouraged acceptance, and told you how to die gracefully, without succumbing to lack of faith, despair, impatience, spiritual pride or avarice.
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Troy Burns Family in Concert: Gospel singers and musicians Troy and Tammy Burns, along with Ethan McNelly and Jacob Whisnant, will present an evening of gospel music beginning at 7 p.m. April 16 at College Road Baptist Church, 5010 SW College Road in Ocala. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. A $10 donation is requested at the door; masks are required. Call 237-5741 for details.
“Before I Die”: The City of Ocala, in partnership with Hospice of Marion County, presents an interactive art project through April 19 at Tuscawilla Art Park, 213 NE Fifth St., Ocala. As a part of National Healthcare Decision Day, volunteers from Hospice of Marion County will be onsite Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., to facilitate conversations about mortality and adding meaning to our daily lives. Thanks to passionate people around the world, more than 5,000 “Before I Die” walls have now been created by communities in more than 75 countries. The park is open daily, sunrise to sunset. 629-8447 or ocalafl.org/culturalarts
Before I Die
The City of Ocala Municipal Government in partnership with Hospice of Marion County, Inc. announces the installation of interactive art project “Before I Die” on Monday, April 12 at Tuscawilla Art Park, located at 213 NE Fifth Street in downtown Ocala. The exhibit will be on display through Monday, April 19. The park is open daily, sunrise to sunset.
As a part of National Healthcare Decision Day, volunteers from Hospice of Marion County will be on-site Friday, April 16, 10am-3pm to facilitate conversations about mortality and adding meaning to our daily lives.
“Before I Die,” created by artist Candy Chang, reimagines how the walls of our cities can help us grapple with mortality and meaning as a community today. After the death of someone she loved, Chang painted an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighborhood with chalkboard paint and stenciled the prompt, “Before I die I want to ,” to restore perspective and find consolation with her neighbors. Any