It’s been twenty years, but I can still see my father, the gentleman doctor as brothers, sitting beside my Aunt in NYC. She’s in a rigid metal halo & back brace, due to the fractures along her spine from metastatic breast CA. Cheeks flushed with steroids, she’s
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I was filled with gratitude when I witnessed my dad’s last breath in hospital. Gratitude for having had the kind dad for 23 years that I had. A dad whom I would miss. For this I felt lucky. Blessed.
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When my patient was awake, she always wanted to hold hands: with family, with friends, with caregivers. One day she asked, “Who will hold my hand when I die?” I reminded her of her faith tradition and said, “when you let go of a hand here, it
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Dad – I’m so sorry I let you down at your end of life – I let them put a feeding tube in when I should have just held your hand. You survived but did not live. I promise I will help others through this fear &
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I was such a young, and naive social worker when I experienced my first death – Debbie – I was just 22 yrs. old at the time. I remember her actively dying in her bed. She had been fighting with her dad over many years, but he
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In the 9 weeks between diagnosis & death, we learned so many “secrets” of my mom’s life. Until she was freed by the knowledge of her coming death, she could not tell some of her own life stories & I found out the father was raised me
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My father died within 3 months of his diagnosis. I was working in the next province (this one) and took Bearskin Airlines every week or 2 to see him. I left for work 2 days before he died, and didn’t see him alive again. Everybody else did;
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Mom: when you were taken away so suddenly by death, I thought that my life had no meaning. Though I had a husband and two sons, the absence of your presence was very hard to take. Not just by me but by the whole family. Especially by
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I remember Adina, one of my clients very close to death when I began visiting her. As it was, I went, perhaps, all of 3 times before I was told she had passed away. She was dying of breast cancer and her right arm was hugely swollen
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Hospice allowed to give of myself and be of service to others. Volunteering took a deeper meaning to be able to help someone who is looking for help, help that many cannot buy. Volunteering helped me to grow and become a better person, by being open to
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