“Life is strange. I didn’t simply wake up one morning thinking caring for dying babies would be a good idea. But know what? We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
‘A baby boy thought to have Down syndrome has been dumped in the bushes. Do you want him?’: Social worker becomes foster mom to abandoned babies with end-of-life needs
‘An old high school friend messaged, ‘I only have a few days left to live.’ We hadn’t seen each other in over 20 years.’: Woman urges ‘tell your friends you love them’ after final days with dying friend
“I texted my partner, ‘Luke has only got days to live. Can we, by any chance, go and see him this weekend?’ We lived in completely different states. His immediate reply was, ‘ROADTRIP.’ We were going to take him anywhere he wanted to go.”
‘They didn’t know he was dying when they took this picture, but he did.’: Widow shares powerful reminder to ‘keep showing up’
“They didn’t know as he stood there smiling, his organs were being attacked by tumors. They didn’t know his lungs, kidneys, stomach, spine, shoulders, thighs, intestines, abdomen – all of it was covered in cancer. And, they didn’t know he would die in just 58 days.”
‘You need to get away. You need a BREAK.’ So what did I do? YUP, I called my sister. Who else would do this for me?’: Woman writes story praising ‘superstar’ late sister, ‘She was my rock’
“She called from the hospital to let me know she would try to be well enough to make that trip down here. She had COVID. She helped in every way possible for me to navigate widowhood. She was on the ventilator eight days. The one I leaned on my whole life.”
‘If I make her breakfast at 3 a.m. and wash her hair, maybe I can save her!’ I won’t tell her yet.’: Daughter takes care of mom before she passes, ‘I never gave up on you’
“‘Why me?’ she’d ask. But I was 22 and very much alive, how could I know? ‘We aren’t done fighting.’”
‘We were certain this goat wouldn’t make it through the night. ‘Momma, I know it sounds silly, but I prayed for her.’ You can imagine my face when the goat stood up.’: Mom is reminded to ‘trust in the little things’
“One of our little goats was attacked by a dog. This goat kept getting out of the pasture, no matter how many times we put her back. Well, Saturday night, we weren’t fast enough.”
‘Did you know I was there? I greeted you in a comforting voice. ‘We’ve done all we can do,’ the doctor said. I didn’t want you to go.’: Nurse pens emotional ‘thank you’ to dying patient as she struggled to ‘hold back tears’
“They said it was time… I was scared, could you tell? My hands were trembling. Did you see how I kept looking up at the ceiling to hold back tears? I couldn’t breathe. I rolled you to your side and you let the last of the air out from your lungs. As I combed your hair, did you hear me whisper to you that ‘YOU are truly loved’? I don’t understand how I could have this kind of love for someone I barely even knew. I can’t explain it.”
‘I feel like I’m dying.’ He started going downhill. He was diagnosed with the flu, and sent home to rest.’: Woman loses young husband to incurable colon cancer, ‘I know how much he loved me’
“We went on vacation to Disney World. I got the flu. Looking back, I’m so glad they had that time together. Just a girl and her dad, taking on the world. When we got home, he couldn’t walk without help. The ER doctor thought that he was having a reaction to Tamiflu. He looked just as shocked as I was and said, ‘It’s everywhere.'”
‘I was accused of murder. Twice.’: Mother of 6 recalls murder accusations brought against her after gaining custody of half-brother in wake of parent’s deaths
“My father signed over custody to me. The judge granted it one day before he died. We were settling into our new lives when I heard a knock at my door. A USPS worker handed me a certified envelope. I read the horrific accusations. Homicide. Someone is saying I murdered my father. Murdered. That I killed him. Me. His daughter. I hit my knees, sobbing, wanting to die. ‘This is it. I’m going to be arrested.’ I was petrified. What if someone actually believes this?”
‘When we got the news death was coming soon, I was driving us home. I started crying, and couldn’t stop. He held me on the side of the interstate. Then HE took over driving.’: Widow recalls the ways late husband showed her ‘real love’
“Every time the hospice people asked if they could do anything for him, he would answer that he was only worried about me, his wife. I tried not to cry, because he wanted his last days to be happy and without tears. Then, I opened his work bag and found it.”
