11-40am
Another day has passed & Granny is hanging on. She is eating like a bird, very little and through a syringe. The staff are turning her every 2 hours & when they do she groans weakly, but that’s the only sound she makes. She stares but doesn’t seem to see. Two worlds are running parallel for us as the moment. This world, quietly ticking by as life ebbs out of Granny’s body. Waiting. Watching. Listening to her breathing. Frail care staff are wonderful, gentle, understanding. The wind is rustling through the trees outside the window. Mike is praying. Granny’s thin frame moves with each passing breath.
Back at home, our world is joyful, full of life. Last night, Stacey and Adrian and David were all home – Chess games on the go, sounds of the piano resonating through the house. Conversation & laughter.
Such a contrast to where I now sit. The end cannot be long, we say. But in actual fact, we don’t really know. She will go when the time is right. It seems so easy to die and yet so hard. An 8 year old dies suddenly of a massive strep infection. Granny hangs on – moment by moment – 89 years of life slowly ebbing away.
This is life. She is comfortable & we are grateful. We are grieving her already. Her entry into eternity will be triumphant. A new body, a great reunion. When the news comes ‘she has gone’ instead we will rejoice in the knowledge that she has in fact arrived.
What comfort.
And so we leave here today & go home to family and friends and a crazy, curious cat …
And I know Granny would have it no different!
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
One Response to Back At The Bedside