End-of-life challenges in modern times

A long time ago I watched a documentary about poet Emily Dickinson's life and writings.

One thing that I never forgot about that film is that she lived at a time when death was regrettably common - and therefore the subject of many of her poems.

"How are you doing?" is a polite way of introducing ourselves to each other now.

But as I learned in that documentary, this greeting during Dickinson's ti...