Have you ever watched and waited for someone to die? It isn’t a pleasant thing to do.

The family and friends of Terry Schiavo, the Florida woman who has made the headlines for years, despite the ability to do anything much more than breathe.

Schiavo, brain-dead for years, is the center of a national debate after her husband won a court battle to have her feeding tube removed. Without the tube, she’ll be unable to eat and will die within a few days or perhaps a week or so.

Sometimes we don’t realize how precious and fleeting life can be until we stop to really think about it, or until it hits us right in the face.

Several years ago, I was in the the hospital room along with my parents as my grandfather, my mother’s father, took his last breath.

We knew it was coming. He’d been sick for two decades since he was first diagnosed with asbestosis. The insulation had ruined his lungs. He’d been close to death before – many times.

Along the way one doctor suggested the family "pull the plug" on the life support he needed during his weakest moments. The family knew better. He wasn’t finished on this year, at least not yet.

Each time he wound up in the hospital, however, he fought back. His strength allowed him to watch his great-grandchildren grow up and see another couple of presidents come and go. He was hardcore Democrat through and through. And he didn’t mind telling anyone who would listen.

His latest ailments, however, were different. The ailments were not necessarily different, but his spirit was. It was obvious that he was tired, tired of living. And we all knew it.

The doctors said he was too weak to really aggressively fight his latest problems.

And it was then we knew he wouldn’t be with us long.

Several hours passed by. Watching, waiting, hanging on every little noise in the room.

At one point I remember staring at my watch and noting each time the second hand passed 12. Another minute of life.

Eventually, he succumbed and when he did those of us waiting pretty much fell apart as one might expect.

After the funeral and after several years have passed, I try to remember the good times we all had. He lived a long, fruitful life. He taught his daughter and later his grandchildren quite a bit about life.

But this week, as Congress and Florida legislators struggled to figure out a way to save Terry Schiavo, I didn’t think about my grandfather’s life. I thought about his death.

His death was, by way of comparison, relatively easy, I imagine. He was unconscious and he died in the matter of several hours.

The end of Schiavo’s life may take much longer. Doctors say without nourishment, Schiavo might live for days or a week or so before she eventually starves to death.

Watching and waiting for death is awful, even if only for a few hours. Imaging the pain Schiavo’s loved ones will suffer in the coming days is almost unimaginable.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Ironton Tribune. He can be reached at (740) 532-1445, ext. 12 or by e-mail to kevin.cooper@irontontribune.com.