Impending death is re-definition

When you decide to take your own life

You cease to be what you thought you were

And become someone who is about to die

And so it was for another poor soul

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/07/reed-smith-partner-commits-suicide-in-chicago/#more-27662

So tragic and sad.

The ironic thing about certain suicides is that the individual who kills himself is not doing it because they want to die.  They are doing it because they want to live.  But what is living? Surely not the basic biological functions that separate us from the clinically dead.  Everyone defines living for themselves.  When someone else can take away what you define as life they can present you with an unthinkable ultimatum: a living death vs. a dying life. Six in one hand, half a dozen in the other.

So why do so few choose suicide and embrace a dying life?  Indecision.  If one defines themselves as a member of the elite in a certain profession and they are fired or forced out (or about to be) they have precious little time to pull the trigger, tie the noose, or walk off the platform.  If Stewart Dolin had taken his own life a year later, would the Chicago Tribune have covered the story? Would it have referred to him as a lawyer?