Tag: death and dying

It hit me the other day: With my mother’s death, I am now the senior woman in my family. In Native cultures, that is a massive deal. Aunties are all-powerful, they are the wise women, the matriarchs who carry traditions forward.

For their Ash Wednesday service Wednesday night, the West Central Abbey began their reflection of the 40 days of Lent by discussing death.

I had this sense that I was participating in making the world into a place that was not shaped by Doug, that would continue without him. That I was undoing the evidence of his life. That undoing felt like betrayal. This has been a theme for me in grief and loss, the sense that moving or changing or getting rid of a loved one's possessions is transgressive.

Even with modern medicine to supply a few repair parts for some breakdowns, too much of the internal plumbing isn't amenable to that. 

Add language and written messages to the mix and you get an even more interesting process. We humans can achieve an "immortality" quite independent of death, cellular or multicellular.

A little over a week ago, I learned that my friend, Chris, is entering into palliative care.

Join us for Coffee Talk today at 10 a.m. at Indaba Coffee where our panelists will discuss "The Wonder of the End."