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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Privileged and very humble
Today I think about all the times I have been with a person at the end of their life – (hours). They were mostly elderly friends whom I learned so much from, who have been encouraging me in my life struggles with my sons. Someone called me
Read story →Holding the hands, wiping the tears
That while I spend most of the hours of my week holding the hands, wiping the tears & sitting with the suffering of my dying patients and their families, & that gives me perspective on the sanctity & beauty of life. I cannot seem to translate this
Read story →Relieving fear
To be with a loved one at end of life To support a loved one who is with a loved one at end of life Transferring knowledge Relieving fear Saying goodbye Palliative Care Nursing
Read story →Defining our legacy
When I think of death, I think of the thousands of years of unseen human history and how so many of those people died without so much of a whisper. But – all those who whisper come together in one large symphony – defining our legacy.
Read story →I feel her with me
When I first began my career as a hospice physician, I worked with the most amazing social worker/ volunteer coordinator. She introduced our agency to therapeutic touch and the healing potential of harp played at the bedside of the dying. She went on to become a naturopathic
Read story →Something sad and beautiful
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
Read story →I wish she felt freer in life
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
Read story →The world keeps turning
When my Dad died I realized how greatly unimportant we are in the grand scheme of the universe & the gathering of all universes… and yet how greatly important we are to the people around us, who survive us… the world keeps turning but I am paralyzed –
Read story →I still feel a twinge
When my first born son died from preterm labor at 20 weeks, the comfort from family & friends, the surprise at the many friends who share their stories and the blatant insensitivity of some. I still feel a twinge when I tell people I have two girls
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