Those precious last moments of life you don’t want to let go of
When someone you adore is not far off the afterlife transition, it can be heartbreaking to see the changes that take place from without and within. It’s also a challenging position to be in when you love a person so much that losing them seems to be the most painful thing in the world. Is there something you can take from this one very moment and find peace within yourself — despite what’s going on?
As I sit by my mum’s bedside, I look at her swollen feet and massage them with moisturising cream. Yesterday they were a lot better, yet today they seem to have taken a turn for the worst. I can’t help instinctively know this is just another sign of her kidneys disintegrating once again.
My mum has pancreatic cancer. A routine scan revealed the hidden killer at the end of March. Her kidneys were the first to fail, and she was rushed to hospital, in which she stayed for a whole month.
I felt so alone, and helpless thought this time. Some days were ok; then we had a lot of disastrous ones.
There was a point where I thought she wasn’t going to make it. I prayed every night, tears in my eyes, that she could come home for a while and spend some time at peace with her family.
I wanted her to experience Greek Easter with the people she loved around her — as I knew it would be her last.
For a while, that became a reality. I would take mum to church services; then we’d go for a walk in her apartment backyard.
Sometimes we would enjoy an almond milk cappuccino with cinnamon on the top. It would be our favourite drink to have together.
I enjoyed every moment with her, especially the times we would laugh.
My mum did a lot for me. She loved to make my daughter a snack when she came home from school.
