On Being with the Dying

If you are or perhaps will be the one to sit with a terminal loved one, friend, etc.
Remember this is their time to be a 'star', the center of attention.
Do not dis-cuss your beliefs, let them say anything they wish and show no shock if this happens.
Do not read to them unless they may be comatose.
Hospice workers must undergo days of training, and I learned a lot from ths experience.
This will aid you in the grief you may have in their passing by saying goodbye to the star as they exit the stage.

this is so true. in hospice we sit there to be ears or a hug and smile.

I have never been in a hospice and never had the time to deal with listening to someone while they were dying as an EMT, since I was trying to save their life.

BUT I did sit with my Uncle for two weeks straight when he was dying. Not because he was my uncle, but because he was my Hero as well as my Uncle. Through those two weeks he told me everything that he never had a chance to about his experiences in Vietnam. It was a great but sad moment in my life.

So I will have to agree, just listen and answer if they ask a question.

Originally posted by psychosgirl
this is so true. in hospice we sit there to be ears or a hug and smile.

Yes, and the saddect of all for me is an aids patient, who totally discerns that for the most part 10 seconds of thinking could have spared them this way of dying..bless you..

HOPI PRAYER

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on the ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.