Angela Langlands and family recently supported her mom, Annette, in accessing medical aid in dying in California. After witnessing the beautiful death afforded by California’s Death with Dignity law, Angela made this powerful video to advocate for Death with Dignity in her mom’s honor.
My mom, Annette, was endlessly thoughtful and creative. She gave beauty freely—earrings, scarves, lipstick—to friends, neighbors, and even strangers. Her generosity carried through her work as an interior designer and in the way she and my dad opened their home to anyone: backyard Fourth of July parties, welcoming opera singers for charity events, or offering a place to stay to a grad student in need. That same generosity shaped the way she approached the end of her life.
When colon cancer returned after years of surgeries and chemotherapy, she faced unbearable pain. She didn’t want her last days to be spent asleep or in agony. She wanted to leave this world the way she had lived in it—on her own terms, surrounded by loved ones, and fully in control.
Before she died, she reflected, quoting Paul McCartney, “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
Choosing Death with Dignity was, for her, an act of love: a way to spare us the helplessness of watching her suffer and to honor the life she cherished so deeply.
After she died, I made this video to honor her and share her story with the world. The experience of supporting my mom through the aid-in-dying process transformed me. Death with Dignity represents respect, autonomy, and compassion—the ability to end life on one’s own terms, with clarity and choice.
Medical aid in dying is an extension of the values my mom lived by: agency, courage, and generosity.
You may never need this choice, but someone you love might, and we need to join forces to ensure this critical end-of-life option is available to dying people who need it.
Please, in the spirit of my mom’s generosity, watch the video to hear her story, and if it moves you, share your story with us too. Together, our experiences change minds, pass laws, and ensure the end-of-life freedom we all deserve.
