I'm learning a lot from my daughter, Donna, a nurse-practitioner who has worked, for several years, in hospice.
Death is such a mystery to me. I've avoided thinking about it whenever possible. She, on the other hand, deals with it on a frequent basis, visiting the terminally ill in their homes, making sure they are comfortable and pain-free, and confirming their passing when the patient's relatives call to tell her the end has come. Some weeks several may die. Her calmness is remarkable, and she says that meditation has been a help. When we sat on the deck recently, next to Flora, our elderly Aussie dog, who has shown signs of coming to the end of her life, but who is improving, still weak, but getting some of her strength back, Donna softly chanted a Kuan Yin Compassion prayer, and it was like breathing in and out, so lovely and affecting.
Sometimes our teachers come to us - even in the form of our own children.
No comments:
Post a Comment