Is there such a thing as a “good death”?

Some might confuse a “good death” with that which is not tragic, absurd, or unfair.

Why is it that a good person dies, alone, neglected and abused? 

Joaquin Rivera a beloved troubadour of Philadelphia’s Hispanic community passed away and he did so abandoned.

Rightly his family does not want him to be remembered for the tragic way he passed away, but for all the good and happiness he brought forth.

His death does bring back to the limelight that which is true of the tragic death of any human being, if only he got the care needed in a caring and timely fashion.

Patient neglect every so often makes the headlines, it happens all the time at nursing homes and hospitals, here in the U.S. or in Great Britain, New York or Philadelphia, all models of supposedly advanced Western societies.

But patient neglect doesn’t only affect the poor, the elderly, or the mentally ill.  Every so often we learn that even patriotic war veterans suffered neglect at the famous Walter Reed Military Hospital.

Neglect is ever present along with the abuse by the miserable that steal from a dying man, as it happened to one of our own, to one that we loved.

That is why we protest, yes against death itself but more so against the uncaring and neglectful way a Hospitable is run.

Joaquin is our poet-musician, our own troubadour, we resent his death, we resent neglect, yet we will always celebrate the cheerfulness he so masterfully shared.