When you read or hear stories like this, it's easy to wonder that as you can will yourself to live on, sometimes through horrendous pain and misery and torment, can you also will yourself to die, when you've had enough?
Or when you lose your life-long love, as in this case?
You don't have to be religious to believe that Marie and Frank are together now, somewhere.Marie and Frank Cotton studied dentistry together, when she, the shining star of her year at Sydney University, tutored him. They married, raised a family after he returned from war, and set up a dental surgery together. They played tennis and built a court and gardens together.
In later life the Cottons had moved to a retirement village at Baulkham Hills, where they were together until Marie, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, went to a nearby nursing home three years ago. Frank joined her after a heart attack in March.Determined to stay alive while she clung to life, he recovered enough to care for her. Marie was moved into Frank's room on Sunday night. She died early on Monday. He said he just wanted to grieve, then die.
He had a heart attack a few hours later...
