Have you kept vigil with a loved one dying at their home or yours? How did it go

@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
August 23, 2011 6:11pm CST
If so, how did you spend those last days or hours until you knew the person had crossed over? Was anyone else with you during some of that time? How did you help prepare your loved one to cross over? I was with both my mother and my mother-in-law when they died. Both had chosen Hospice care at home when they learned they had cancer that would not be curable with treatment. It was an honor to be with them when they crossed over into life eternal. I spent the most time with Mom, since I was her primary care-giver, but I had hired help in addition to the help Hospice gave. Hospice was very helpful in preparing me for Mom's death and in recognizing it when it came . My Mom was Episcopalian, so I spent time reading her parts of her Book of Common Prayer and the Bible that I knew she loved, even though she was in a coma. The Hospice book said her sense of hearing would be the last sense to go. On the last day, which the nurse said would be her last, one of the care-givers Mom had been close to stayed with me until the end, but we took turns leaving the room for brief periods to eat, etc. The hospice nurse had said Mom would chose her time to go and leave when the right people or no people were with her, so we should always tell her when we enterered or left the room. The nurse also said we needed to give Mom permission to go. To let her know we would miss her because we love her, but that we would be OK and that we knew she wanted to be with Dad and her other lost loved ones. My brother had been making a long trip each Saturday to see Mom after we knew she only had six weeks left. It was a Tuesday when the nurse said Mom would go that day. As Mom's breathing became more labored, and we knew she was about to go, we called my brother and I held the phone to Mom's ear so he could tell her good-bye and any other last words, and give her permisison not to try to hold on until Saturday. She died 20 minutes after I hung the phone up. I felt very privileged to have had a big part of Mom's care and to be with her until the end. I knew she didn't not want to go alone. She decided to leave when both the other care giver and I were there. It was all very peaceful. What was your experience?
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