I returned from sitting with Mom, only to find your thoughtful post. Thank you for opening your heart and sharing your story.
We are settling in with the new reality. My sister's daughter is in from Maine. She is an intelligent and caring young woman, takes after her grandmother and namesake. Helping Sis get the house together, offer support and be a buffer with others.
Our appointment with our hospice nurse went very well. He was kind and caring. He was very thorough. Sis and I have both been honored to be with different family members when they passed. I held my mother's mother as she took her last breath. I had with her, as you so aptly put it, the most private & personal of conversations, the deathbed conversation. My sister cared for her in laws in their final time. We are both so grateful for those and other experiences. They have given us a rather strong foundation to face this from. Our nurse was somewhat taken aback by our knowledgeable welcoming of him and his services into our home.
Yesterday I made contact with a long time friend of my mother's. She and Mom worked together on a mental health unit back in the day. She is now a clergy person and has worked with our hospice in the past. The synergy of her coming back into our life 4 years ago and her knowledge of my mother during a large portion of her life brings me great comfort. When the time comes, I feel she will speak my mother's life with honesty and compassion.
I like to think that all the stars are campfires. And when we die, we get our own hearth. And around that hearth, all those that went before us will gather and greet us.
A little story inspired by your phrase our crazy bodies wear out. My mother has a tattoo. She had it placed where she did, on the inside of her ankle, as part of her aging plan. When asked why she had it placed there, she explained that as a nurse and having worked with many elderly, she noticed that no matter how bent she may become as she aged, she would always be able to see the inside of her ankle... That's my Mom, practical and cutting edge!
= new reply since forum marked as read