Are you and the people you love ready to die?
Click this link: Begin the conversation.
Any idea what this is?
You should.
It will help you die well.
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Tag: Hospice
Twistee Treat To Do
I still have the post-it note up on my office wall, near the phone.
Crazy, isn’t it? I mean the things we think about and the things we do.
So, in the midst of the fairly intense topic the past few days, I’m going to switch gears today, and revisit a topic from ten days ago.
Something like 14 months ago, we thought our beloved Canine Son (Yellow Lab) Carter was going to die, perhaps in less than one week.
I asked our son, “What do you think we should do with Carter before he leaves us?”
“Take him for ice cream at Twistee Treat”, he said, without hesitating.
And that’s exactly what we did. In hind sight, that trivial post-it note probably didn’t need to be written. I mean, what Father would forget to do something as important as honoring this “last request”?
And then there’s the next question, “Why does this adult (50) still have a stupid little post-it note hanging on his office wall?”
We Talked About It
Are there things in your life that are difficult to talk about? Things that scare you to talk about?
Me too. But not as much lately. Why? Because of things that have happened and the lessons learned.
Namely, becoming a parent. And thinking about the type of parent a child should have, there are a few key concepts that seem all too obvious to practice well.
Being honest.
On our sunset walk the other night, with our Dog, our son and I talked about random things. Clouds. The sky’s color. The cold air. His “winter” clothing. Sounds we heard. Jokes. Junk.
And then for some reason, as we were turning off the road and through the woods to our house, I saw Carter, our yellow Lab (10), come following behind us.
“You know Carter’s not going to live forever, right? All things die. Carter will die some day. You know this right?”
It felt like the right moment to say that, mostly because of a recent conversation with a death expert.
This “death expert” works in Hospice and Palliative Care. She mentioned that her vision would be that everyone in her community would “die well”, not just her company’s “customers”.
It hit me in a weird, but glorious sort of way. Her honesty. Her frankness. Her ease in talking about death.
Eureka!
If we are aware and not too afraid, we can help Carter die well. We should start thinking about it before we need to.
Same goes for humans.
Dog Is Love
God is Love and so is Baxter the Dog – Dog is Love.
My goal in life is to become the kind of person my dog thinks I am. Maybe it should be to become the kind of dog I think my dog is.
Blessed Passing
Have been following a friend’s recent journey with cancer. Her brother-in-law, who lives with her and her husband, was recently diagnosed with cancer – seems like less than a month ago.
Waking at 3:30AM this morning, with coffee in hand, fired up the laptops for the morning routine. Checked several social media “Favorites”, including Facebook.
My friend posted this update regarding her beloved brother-in-law: “He walked softly out the door with Jesus a few minutes ago”.
Moments like these are constant reminders that life is fragile, and an incomprehensible gift.
That life is painfully challenging and gloriously wonderful.