The Decision to Live 

Ernest H. Rosenbaum, MD, and Isadora
Rosenbaum, MA 

    "Hope is the thing with feathers 
    That perches in the soul, 
    And sings the tune without the words, 
    And never stops at all."

                                            — Emily Dickinson 

As medical professionals, we have always been fascinated with the power of the will to live,
with the way some of our patients cope with
chronic disease even under the threat of death.
We've observed how they refuse to let
physical discomfort affect their enjoyment
of family and friends or prevent them from