O Cross that liftest up my head…
No to oxygen
No to tubes and forced breath
I dare not ask to fly from thee…
No to institution
No to needles in veins
I lay in dust life’s glory dead…
Yes to the circle of daughters and sons
Yes to the hand of her beloved
And from the ground there blossoms red…
Yes to family gone before
Yes to voice and words restored
Life that shall endless be.*
Yes to eternity and the face of God
Wake the song of Jubilee!
(*From the song, O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, by George Mattheson)
Reflections after an evening spent with our elderly parents in honest, albeit difficult conversation about end of life. They are amazing. My mother’s resolute smile, her sometimes trembling chin, and the occasional tear-filled eyes speak to her inner strength and longing to finish well. She inspired in me the above thoughts.
Nancy Perkins
March 2012
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