E is for Ells: Grandpa

Surviving Dying

It's a strange contradiction to say that death is a part of life.
And to claim that a person can "survive dying" is literally impossible.

We live.
We die.
People we love live.
People we love die.

That's what happens.

Now personally, I admit...I'm terrified. Afraid and heart-sick just imagining the loss. Horrified thinking of leaving my children motherless, and me childless. Heartbroken at the image of being separated from my love. Melancholy with an image of the day my parents pass. Sad at the tragedies I know.

Yet I feel at home with "end of life." Once, I sat in the front office of a hospice agency awaiting a job interview. I browsed a bulletin board pinned with layers of obituaries and wondered how these employees managed. But now I know. It's a gift and privilege to be around these people.

Death is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime moment in a person's life. It exposes . Not only for the person experiencing it, but those watching. Now I am not talking just about the actual "moment" of death. But the process. It could be weeks, or days, or years. But it is always the same. Raw. Real. And Individual.

Unique. Distinctive. And life changing.

We all face it.
And survive it.

E is for Ells

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Grandpa

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Surviving Dying