concerning death

If pondering this question, it is only worthwhile if one is thinking of someone they genuinely love and care about. When it comes to chosen person's death, would you prefer:
a) to know in advance [doctor tells you that the person has x weeks or y months left to live] or
b) to have it come as a surprise--sounds too up-beat--or shock [one day he/she is with you, the next day he/she is not]?

just something that's been on my mind.

I would like to know in advance.

Knowing things like that in advance kind of defeats the purpose of living and being human.

If someone I loved and cared about was going to die, and the doctors knew it, I would like to know about it. I would want to get everything that he/she wants to do, done, and try to make them happy. I would be very upset either way just because someone I cared about died, but I don't think it would be as bad if I knew ahead of time. That way I could prepare myself.

personally, i've not come up with my own answer. at first, i thought it would be easier to know in advance, but then EVERY time i was with that person i'd likely be thinking "oh my gosh, i only have _____ left with them. i can't lose them. i don't know what i will do without them"

on the flip-side, while my mom was in pain and in a bit of a weakened state her last week or so of life, i had gotten past my fear of her death (with encouragement from doctors) and enjoyed, laughed, loved, joked with my mom even the day she died... if i'd have known she was going to die that weekend, i'd have been crying and upset the whole time and wasted my last hours with her....

this is probably one of those lose-lose situations (actually, i know it is because you lose somone)... but it doesn't have a 'right' answer.

that's why i just wondered how everyone else felt.

A surprise/shock. Whoever i fall in love with i would spend each day with them and treat everyday like our last together. Knowing in advance would make the time from that day to the day of their death a struggle.