My mother-in-law is in hospice care.
She didn't reach this stage suddenly. We're sad, but relatively prepared (my children, less so). She's hasn't remembered very much for some time, and now she simply cannot stay awake for visitors, so we mostly just sit with her in silence while she sleeps.
I feel sad for my family and myself, of course.
And I can't help but contemplate my own mortality.
Especially when friends around you are experiencing their own pain over a sick loved one.
I have a dear friend who has a sister in ICU. She is very, very fragile.
I wrote about a couple I know who lost a grandchild recently.
We don't have all the answers. Sometimes all we can do is just be with it, which is made easier with the love and support of our family, caring friends in our community, and whatever faith we have.
None of this new to humanity, of course, but it's new when it happens to us. At least one message is always the same and never gets old: life is fragile, so live today, in the present. Live now, because tomorrow may not come.
Live, and love.
