{"id":61836,"date":"2016-07-07T00:09:01","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T07:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=61836"},"modified":"2016-07-07T00:09:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T07:09:01","slug":"driving-miss-norma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/61836","title":{"rendered":"Driving Miss Norma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tWe\u2019ve talked in the past about passing\u2014dying, and doing it your way<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

But what about those precious months, weeks, days \u2026 moments \u2026 leading up to the big event?<\/p>\n

If you could suddenly hear the ticking of your life clock, what would you do with the time remaining?<\/p>\n

Many people, right or wrong, throw themselves desperately at the feet of the medical profession, hoping beyond hope for a cure. They are willing to suffer through brutal treatments to try and extend life, often trading quality for a shot at quantity.<\/p>\n

But not Norma Bauerschmidt.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Driving Miss Norma on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

Last fall, two days after her beloved husband Leo\u2019s death, 90-year-old Norma received the news that she had uterine cancer. Surgery, radiation, and aggressive chemotherapy were options, but she didn\u2019t even pause to consider them.<\/p>\n

\u201cA tiny woman at 101 pounds and under five-feet tall, an exhausted Norma looked the young doctor dead in the eye and with the strongest voice she could muster, said, \u2018I\u2019m 90 years old, I\u2019m hitting the road,\u2019\u201d recalls her daughter-in-law, Ramie.<\/p>\n

And, by golly, Norma meant it.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Driving Miss Norma on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

Norma\u2019s son Tim knew that his mom couldn\u2019t\u2014or, rather, wouldn\u2019t\u2014sit still, living out her days in the quiet of a home she had shared with Leo for most of her life.<\/p>\n

But what did that mean, exactly?<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving recently read Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End<\/em> by Atul Gawande (please put this on your reading list), our best idea was to take her on the road with us. Norma currently is not in pain, her mind is sharp, she loves to travel, and she is remarkably easy to be around,\u201d Ramie shares on the Driving Miss Norma Facebook page<\/u><\/a>, where you can keep up with Norma\u2019s adventures.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Driving Miss Norma on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo courtesy of Driving Miss Norma on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

So, together, the family \u201chit the road\u201d in an RV for the journey of a lifetime.<\/p>\n