During Don’s last few weeks, I made a request: “Don, please ask God and Jesus to give me answers while I am here on earth. I do not want to have to wait until death to receive them.” He responded, “That is not the way it works.” I came back with “I disagree. I am just asking you to do this if you have a chance.” He finally agreed. He must have asked, because answers slowly came. Answers initially came through dreams. I will be share this with you later plus stories.
LESSON: Death brings more empathy, compassion, and understanding for others that experience death. These blessings received help me turn around and help another in some way.
His funeral was great. I was not expecting so many from everywhere! Many papers as far away as Arizona had picked up the news of his death and he was on the front page of many. He would have loved it.
LESSON: Communication in the family with the patient is vitally important through the entire ordeal. There was no hospice at that time. I did it. And I treasure the discussions we had and that he was able to have with our family. Because he wanted to die at home, I learned how to do the shots and we discovered that he did not need to be as sedated as he most likely would have been if he had been hospitalized.
Through this entire six months of Don’s cancer, family living in Portales, family from Oklahoma City and Pauls Valley, and many others would show up or call and help in some way. People I did not know and do not even know now helped complete the house we thought we would complete with us doing the work. There were many I did not know.
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