2016-06-30
People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live...[We] never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.
-Albert Einstein


From "Forever Ours," by Janis Amatuzio, MD:

I've come to realize that there is mysterious dimension of forensic pathology that I almost missed entirely, and yet it also feels strangely familiar. Although I still document "the body of evidence," I have become fascinated with the essence of what has left. For a scientist and physician, however, the problem is that this area of study isn't precise.

It can't be measured or photographed, and people's experiences around death can't be proven beyond a reasonable degree of medical certainty. Studying death has required me to take a leap—a huge leap professionally—from my mind to my heart. And in doing so, I've remembered that what is most meaningful often cannot be measured, and that everything that counts cannot be counted.

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