IF

Ask 10 people you know if they have any close friends or relatives with cancer, you will get a "yes" reply from at least five of them. Cancer may not be the number one killer in the world but it is certainly the one that most people (especially women) are frighten of because it can kill and torture people very slowly -- in many cases, leaving people with not much dignity.

I have a colleague's mother who suffered from cancer when she was at her 50s. She passed away quickly because she decided not to take any cure and her family respected the decision.

IF I were to be diagnosed with cancer that can't be cured quickly and easily, I will also refuse taking any treatments. Instead of spending my lifetime savings in a treatment/torture that promises only a slight chance of success, I will first go to a few places in South America and Africa, then I will go to the U.S., purchase a car and travel from the West to the East -- there are so many places in the U.S. that I'd like to visit, driving across the country is something that I would not do if I am still healthy. But if I were sick, what the heck, right?

And, if I survive the travel & drive, which probably will take me one to two months, I will go and settle down in Traverse City in the Midwest. If I can still walk around and swing the clubs, I will play golf everyday and be close to the nature. Shortly before I die (like I would know), I will drive to Sleeping Bear Dune, climb the sand dune slowly, sitting there all day watching Lake Michigan below. Yes, that would be where I want to say goodbye to my life. Not in a damn hospital or a tiny little apartment!

Don't I want to say goodbye with people I love and who love me? Yes, I will do that before I make the trip to the U.S. The words of goodbye don't have to be said with my last breadth.