Those sad times come more frequently. 12-12-17

I went to sit with my friend Bette Bradley for an hour today.  I probably shouldn't refer to her as "my" friend as she is actually everyone's friend.  Such a great lady, always with a good word and a smile.  She is 93 and has been in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) for the past few weeks.  She fell in her bathroom and damaged her tailbone.  And I have been told that her body is just shutting down.  She is on a lot of pain medication, because she has a lot of pain.  But she knows who I am and grips my hand with strength, so much so that I winch! 

I have sat with people in declining health before and I have been in a coma myself, though many decades ago.  At that time they used oxygen tents, a plastic structure that enclosed the entire patient, coming down on all sides of the bed.  When I would rouse a little I would think I was inside of a huge ice cube and it was very cold.  But sometimes there would be a  hand reaching under the tent to hold my hand in her warm one.   I don't know if I would have died, but I know that her hand was a life line.  And I have always felt that without that hand I might have just drifted away.  Bette is not in the same situation, but I just know that having someone there when you wake up, even just a little bit, is a good and welcome thing.  So, I will go and sit with her as much as I can.  Her daughter is there to tend to all the business and arrangements and spends as much time as she can with her mother.  But she can't be there all the time and I hope to fill in the gaps as much as I can. 

I don't want her to go, but if it is her time, then I would like to make her as comfortable as I can.  It is the last gift I can give her. 

 

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