Conversations on Loving and Dying
by Elouise
Diane is on my mind these days. Sister #3 of four daughters. She died of ALS after 10 years of learning to live with it and with death. During this time I visited her regularly, and witnessed a chain of small and large deaths. Game-changers.
Muscle movement died off bit by bit. Some capacities disappeared overnight. This was death in life, taken in a thousand small and large bites. When she died, she was barely able to move her eyes and eyebrows—keys to communicating with family members and caretakers.
What does it mean to die? I don’t believe Diane died just on the day she never woke up. She died a thousand times over on the way from here to there. She learned to embrace and live with death. Sometimes with gusto. Other times with anguish and anger.
Recently D and I started reading and talking about Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying. It’s by Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush. Ram Dass had a stroke about 20 years ago, and is still learning to live with death. His friend Mirabai Bush spent time with him talking about death, and then helped bring this book to life.
The book invites us into conversation about questions we often ignore. Especially conversation with the person we’re most likely to be with when we die. Call it getting ready to die by learning to let go of what holds us back.
Recently I wrote a poem about numbering my days. It takes wisdom to number our days. I can’t pretend death is way off in the distance. I don’t know when it will come. I do, however, know I need wisdom to make choices. What will I do and not do right now, given the time I have today?
Diane is my heroine for this kind of wisdom. She numbered her days. She decided what she would and would not do in the time she had left, and what would signal the end—time for comfort care until she died.
I don’t have ALS. Still, I have fewer years to live today than I had yesterday, and at least two health issues that will likely contribute to my death.
I’m relieved I’ve begun these conversations with D. They aren’t always easy. They are, however, always productive.
As always, thank you for visiting and reading. I’m grateful for the opportunity to write from my heart. No matter where it finds me on any given day.
Elouise♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 20 May 2019
Image found at amazon.com
Telling the Truth 
Thank you Elouise for the reference. I have struggled having the conversations naturally with Carol. She loves to read so the book maybe helpful for both of us. Some days her speech is poor, walking is quickly becoming most challenging, and sleep nearly non existent. God’s Blessings.
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Dave, I’m praying you and Carol will find each other in the middle of what must sometimes feel unbearable. You might also look at Ira Byock’s book, The Four Things That Matter Most. Thanks so much for your comment.
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