Will to Live

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the will to live exhibited by some people. We all have it - it is inborn in us and very strong.

I am a respite volunteer for a hospice patient. Without divulging too much info... she is a very old lady with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). I've been seeing her once a week for a couple of house, mostly to just give her someone else to talk to.

At the age of 96, she is very spry, her hearing and vision are great and she beats me at checkers every time. When I saw her this past week it was obvious that something had changed. Her breathing was labored, she looked tired, just not her usual perky self. Her caregiver told me she'd had a bad weekend, she wasn't eating or drinking any water. They thought they were going to lose her.

So it made me think about our will to live. At some point in our life does the will do away and we just give up. Or are we always fighting to live? At 96 does she still think about that? Or will her body finally just stop working.

I know that when we are younger we fight to live. I've known a number of people diagnosed with cancer who have passed on, but before that happened they fought and fought, some for years, to live just a little longer.

Does that will to live ever stop?