Thursday, May 14, 2009

What to tell someone as they prepare to die

My wife is a better LID than I am.  I base that on the fact that she has had one person request her to be the one that take them off of their ventilator and be present as they  die.  She has also had another patient's child call her and put her on speaker phone in her mother's room as she was prepared to go off the ventilator.  The patient's child wanted her to speak a few words to her unconscious mother in the waning moments of her life.  

That's one more of each than I have ever had.

My wife is a respiratory therapist, but obviously does more than that.

I am a director of program, but I hope I do more than that.  

Whatever position you serve as a leader in discipleship, I suppose you too do more than whatever that is.

So, anyway, I asked my wife what words she spoke to the lady's dying mother:

That it was an honor to care for her.  And that she appreciated the insights into life, love, and loss she gained from her during the time she spent with her in her illness.  Apparently she rode in an ambulance with her with sirens blaring and lights flashing one time.  She shared with her how exciting that particular experience was that they shared together.

I wonder what I would say to someone who I cared for in a leadership role of discipleship as they were to die.

Would I be able to say that it was an honor to care for them?  To share with them?  To serve with them?  To live with them? To express what I had learned about my relationship to God because of my time with them?  To talk about that exciting time that we shared together?

What would you say?

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