Creating space to pause, reflect and share experiences with dying and death

All Stories

All Stories

Experiencing a good death

Experiencing a good death

To all the people who are the beauty of having lived a good life and  experiencing a “good death,” Thank you. 

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Taught me her recipe

Taught me her recipe

The old Scottish lady, days from death, lying in her bed on the palliative care unit, taught me her recipe on how to make proper oatmeal…

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We are lost without you

We are lost without you

My Dear Renee, We are lost without you – where have you gone? We will never forget you – thank you for touching our lives with your beauty and brilliance, even for such a short time. All love. – The P.C. team at Medstar Washington Hospital

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You are still with us!

You are still with us!

Mom – thanks for showing me how to live fearlessly, boldly, and “in charge” until one’s last breath. I’m sorry that I didn’t comprehend what you were trying to tell us when you “woke up” in those last hours. Maybe we each are supposed to draw our

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Shining light in my life

Shining light in my life

Hi Mom, You were the shining light in my life. For all that you taught me I am truly grateful. My life is so much better because of you. Love you & miss you

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It’s silent but so loud to me

It’s silent but so loud to me

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 am forever grateful

I am forever grateful

Having spent over 35 years being given the gift to care for people through birth to death, I am struck by how much humanity means and how much of a gift I have been given – Thank you dad for putting me down this path. I am

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For this I felt lucky

For this I felt lucky

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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I can feel the pain of my best friend

I can feel the pain of my best friend

I have a best friend who had a girlfriend. She was [suffering]; died in cancer. She committed suicide because of fearing the near future. I can feel the pain of my best friend. That girl had to face emotional pain. I can feel that emotional pain. This

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Who will hold my hand when I die

Who will hold my hand when I die

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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