No one who's in perfectly good health ever thinks they need to worry about ending up in the hospital tomorrow, but things happen. I'm sure you can think of people who were fine one day and then, in a moment, it all changed. They didn't think they needed to make known...
Maya Angelou said, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." A year ago I knew my mother didn't have long to live, but she didn't want anyone to know, so I had to blog about death without letting on why I was focused on that. That was very...
A rare short story by me.
The big secret I referred to on my blog last month was that my mother was in hospice care. That's why so many of my June posts were about death. My mother and I had been estranged for years, but we managed to say a loving good-bye when I flew out to California during...
Today in the Contra Costa Times of California.
When someone is telling you about a death in the family, or when you're at a wake or a funeral, try not to let your personal feelings about death get in the way. The friends and family of a bereaved person often see the death as a horrifying thing and make...
When trying to give emotional support to someone experiencing the death of a loved one, don't: - express your gratitude that you aren't going through a similar experience. - mention that hearing of this death reminds you to check your own health. - turn to your...
Not everyone goes running to their parent's death bed: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yahxMDYH0rY/UbPg5fTcjHI/AAAAAAAAYqU/Ok07nt9I9BQ/s1600/25.jpg In fact many people take their time, if they show up at all, but just don't talk about it.
When a dying wish conflicts with the needs of the living, which should take priority? Some extreme cases would be pretty easy to call: if a person's last wish is that a friend should go murder her ex-husband, the friend might not have trouble disobeying. But what...
There's an expression that "there are no atheists in foxholes." I don't like this expression because I'm an atheist and I'd like to think I wouldn't capitulate like that, but who knows. I also once read a piece by an atheist soldier who claimed from personal...
Blogging is hard when there are things you don't want certain people in your life to know. I hate secrets. I grew up with secrets. My mother does secrets all too well. I don't tend to keep personal secrets about myself (as my blog readers have probably figured out)...
I'm proud to be a member of AARP, which I've been looking forward to for years. Now I really feel grown up. The AARP newsletters sometimes have very intriguing articles and right now I'm focused on Bronnie Ware's Top Regrets of the Dying, first posted in February...
But if the world really were going to be destroyed in December 2012, what would you spend the next year doing? I like this question because it precludes all that "leaving your mark" crap or preparing others for when you're gone. In this scenario, we'll all be gone. So...
I've heard people asking other people, "If you could be any age for a week, what age would you be?" Think about your answer for a moment. Okay. So far, everyone has answered with an age they've already been (often childhood). I do not answer with an age I've already...
Bob the Husband: "Honey, you only live once." Me: "If I'm lucky."