Have you sat with the dying? Have you seen the loved ones who sit at their bedside night after night, holding their hand? They hold on, afraid to let go, knowing the end is near but so not ready for the last word, the last touch, the last breath of life. 

They sit, exhausted beyond exhausted. They know it’s time to let go, but they also wonder how life goes on without them. There was life before them, and there will be life after them, but life after now will never be the same without them. 

Have you sat with the dying?

Children gather at their feet, learning the sadness of one of life’s greatest losses. They begin to understand the circle of life. With great love comes great loss but to have never loved would have been the greatest loss of all. 

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Loved ones gather, wishing for just a few more stories and memories to carry them through the rest of their life without the one they never imagined living without. They hold their memories tight, knowing it’s what will carry them through the days ahead.

Have you sat with the dying? Have you felt in the movement of the day the collective grief as the living gather to tell the dying goodbye and felt in the stillness of the night the ghosts and the angels of those who have passed visiting, ready to welcome the dying?

Time feels as if it’s frozen, yet it’s still moving.

Life comes and goes throughout the day while one life hangs in the balance each night, leaving loved ones gathered around in their grief, wondering which day is the last. 

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Have you sat with the dying? Have you thought how good of a person and life it must have been to be loved so much and so dearly up to the absolute end, surrounded by love, clasped in the hands of those holding on while the arms of those ready to welcome them home, wait for the final goodbye.

Have you sat with the dying?