Something to Think About

Barbara, People have asked me when and how I can offer others your booklets. With anyone, an acquaintance or close friend, you can always just say, “I have some materials...

Don’t tell Grandma. There has been many a time when I did a hospice assessment and a family member has said to me “Don’t tell Grandma she can’t be fixed....

Mary Nell’s son in law, Ted, sent me this writing. It is so poignant I asked him if I could share it with my blog readers. It is longer than...

I know “dying of a broken heart” is used frequently when death comes as a result of a tragic life event. I’m not sure that is actually why the person...

Having friends, interacting with others, is an important part of that living. Even introverts need one or two people with whom to relate. I don’t know how old you are,...

We can die gradually two ways. We just get old and our body wears out or we get a life threatening illness, disease, and die gradually that way....

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...

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...

QUESTION: I would like to know if my mother died at home, could we wash and care for her, and dress her for bed? Can a person have family come...

Treating people with a cold professionalism vs. treating them as children is either end of a spectrum of respect for a patient’s personhood. Cold professionalism can be as dehumanizing as...

I received an email from a woman I have been corresponding with for a year or so. She is struggling with caring for her mother in law, in her home,...

QUESTION: As toxins build in the body because your body isn’t working right anymore, what signs are there that you are shutting down? Stage 4 liver disease, hepatitis C. I...

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...

There are really just two ways to die: fast or gradual. Fast death occurs quickly by way of an accident, a heart attack, a stroke or suicide. A person is...

Question: "I am ready to die, why haven't I?" Answer: There is a process to dying from disease and old age--withdrawal, increased sleep and decreased food and fluid intake. Part...

I recently received a question from “What would you like me to write about?”. The question was: For 20 years I have been asking for a slightly more technical explanation...