What happens at the end of life?

By Amy Oscar

Blogger’s note: While I don’t typically post other people’s material on my blog site, this beautiful essay by Amy Oscar will resonate with all those who have lived or who are currently living through the end-of-life experience with a loved one or friend.

My mother has never been willing to talk about dying before. In the past, if I mentioned death, she’d turn her head and stare into space.

Yesterday, while I was sitting beside her holding her hand, she said, “I’m scared.””What are you scared about?” I asked.”I’m dying,” she said.”I know,” I said. “Do you want to talk about it – about what scares you?”

She wouldn’t look at me. But she squeezed my hand.”Are you scared because you don’t know what will happen to you when you die?”She nodded.“Do you want me to tell you what happened when Matthew’s dad died?”She nodded.So, I told her that one day, Stanley, who’d been declining for a while, stopped eating and the next day he stopped speaking and the next day, he closed his eyes and after a little while, he died.

“Oh,” she said. “That was easy.” “It doesn’t have to be hard,” I said. And she looked at me, and we smiled.

Read entire essay…