The saddest party: Terminally ill Californian woman holds a two-day bash for her 30 closest friends and family before killing herself with a cocktail of lethal drugs in assisted suicide

In early July, Betsy Davis (left) emailed close friends and relatives to invite them to a two-day party, telling them: 'These circumstances are unlike any party you have attended before, requiring emotional stamina, centeredness and openness.' And just one rule: No crying in front of her. 


The 41-year-old artist with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, held the gathering to say goodbye (main and right) before becoming one of the first Californians to take a lethal dose of drugs under the state's new doctor-assisted suicide law for the terminally ill.