we all want to live forever

i sat last night with a man who is dying at a faster rate than most of us (he's 81 with severe heart problems) and his son and grandsons. the man himself mostly sat quietly, and just rested in the presence of his grandsons and enjoyed it. the grandsons just engaged him in a loving way.

his son, however, still lives with him and has been left with the duty of taking care of him and managing his health. he's on a strict medication plan, strict diet, and actually has a device implanted in his heart that will shock him if it gets out of control.

i had the opportunity to listen to the son talk for nearly an hour, simply about the stress he has to deal with to keep his father alive (which he essentially said was his primary goal - to keep his father alive as long as possible). and, partly because of his roles in his parent's lives, he clearly doesn't get to just talk to people very often.

it just made me think about the quantity and quality of our lives though, and whether we prefer quantity over quality sometimes. this man had to see some extremely specialized doctors who, due to technology, are now able to force a bit more life out of his heart. but is this what we want? to keep forcing life out of people's bodies... even if for a time it does seem to have a decent level of quality.

i guess this is a personal question that can only be answered by the person in the situation. but it seemed like a lot to take.