Is a Peaceful Unmedicated Death Possible?
QUESTION: I am a 30 year old woman working as a psychology intern at a local hospital. My engagement in the hospice program has me thinking a lot about my...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Gift
Our Precarious, Fragile Lives
James Dillet Freeman wrote a book years ago titled, Love, Loved, Loving. In the book he tells the story of a King who dies and upon his death meets an...
Telling Bad News
No one wants to be the bearer of bad news. Americans are a death denying society. We view death as the enemy and a failure: something to be feared and...
Why Write an Advance Directive Now?
If we talk about dying, death or even make our advanced directives and a will then it must mean that we are going to die---soon. My husband and I were...
Pop's Letter- End of Life Inspiration
Shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer this letter was written to family by Truette Wayne Frank (March 6, 1919 to July 27, 1998). I have asked permission from his...
The Gifts Dying Can Give
QUESTION: Can you write about the beauty, the strength, the gifts that death can sometimes bring? I have had the honor of being near a handful of loved ones in...
Enjoy Living
We spend so much of our life being afraid of death. We pretend we will live forever so we don’t make Advance Directives or Living Wills. We take all treatment...
Sharing a Sacred Memory: Peacefully, In My Arms
This is a letter I received from Colleen Todd. She has given me permission to reprint this edited version. The love and beauty in this letter touched me greatly. It...
Should I Tell? Discussing Terminal Prognosis
There are pros and cons to telling a person they can’t be fixed. I've touched on some of them. I don't know the "right" answer. I do know that we...
Don't Tell Your Mother or Sister; I Have Six Months Left to Live
Question: My 87 year old father has cancer and about six months to live. He will not tell his wife (my mother) or my sister who lives close by and...
Living With a Chronic, Life-threatening Illness
I received a letter from a person whose chronic illness has put her at “death's door” many times over the years. She requested my thoughts on her ongoing illness and...
Question: Is the process of dying different in the elderly?
Write something to the living who are young and dying. Signs of what are to come ect... I put these two questions together even though they came from different sources...