I'm not so quick to judge using their illnesses as cop-outs. I truly believe that they thought they were doing the right thing by offing themselves. Whether it was ACTUALLY the right thing? in my opinion, no. As a 35 year old woman with MS and 2 kids, I can feel for the guy. As my disease progresses and the pain and fatigue get worse, I am not looking forward to my husband having to do everything for me, right down to wiping my butt some day. Not a real glamorous way to live, but on the other hand, I don't think that killing myself is an option, either. I hope when the time comes, he has the strength to make the right decisions for me, and if he can't care for me (which, judging by his character, isn't probable), he can find the right place for me to be so that I get the care that I need. Of course, the ideal situation would be a cure, but since that doesn't look like it's going to pan out, I'm just going to watch my body go to hell while my mind stays sharp. I will be sad the day I can no longer use my fingers to type my thoughts, or my voice to speak them, if I progress to that point. Right now, it just looks like I'm headed for a wheelchair (because of heavy limbs and excruciating hip pain), and my fingers are going to quit at some point soon. I hate having to stop everything every day and take a 3 or 4 hour nap because I"m so tired that I"m incoherent. I thank God that we are in a position that we can pay someone to help me with my children (even though I'm a stay at home mom) on the days that family can't help out. I have to have a bit of compassion for the guy with MS. The pain can be truly unbearable, not to mention the self esteem issues. It's not fun to be buckling your 3 year old into his car seat and pee in your britches when you didn't even know you had to go. Think I want to be wearing Depends at my age? MS is such a humiliating disease, if you're not living with it, you have no idea. Even with all that goes on with my body, over which I have no control, I still don't want medicinal marijuana (that's the hippie throwbacks still rebelling against government, only by lobbying them now) and I most certainly do not condone suicide.
I'm totally disgusted with how they handled their sucide. Just leave an "it hurts" note and be done with it. Why drag politics into it? Ugh.
"Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled in the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness. Were it otherwise, he would have never been able to find these words." Ranier Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
I don't know how I found my way to this site but I knew Helen and Ethan and truly admired them both. They were vibrant and passionate about each other and, in their time here, lived life to the fullest. With yours as an exception, the comments on this site were just plain mean.
I don't think that it was the MS alone that forced a decision. Sometimes you simply don't know what people are privately facing.
I appreciate your empathy for the hardships they faced and I wish you ease and comfort with your MS. I know that it must be tough to read posts like this- it was for me. I find it unfathomable that so many people read the obituary with such glee.
Knowing them, I believe they recognized that their story would make waves but I don't think that it was Bush or MS or job insults that led to their decision. I think it came down to each of them being fearful of living life without the other. To the others: Ethan and Helen Levine were examples of lives well-lived. Please try to find it in your hearts to have sympathy for the conditions which led to their decision and NOT to delight solely in their end decision.