be it from a living and healthy individual or perhaps from a person near death?
Here's mine:
May 16th, 2001..I broke the news to my Dad in the hospital that his cancer had spread everywhere and the Doctors had said chemo would only extend his life maybe 3 months and that he'd be in far more pain than he is now..3-4 x more. He accepted this with resignation. I said to him a little later in the day, "Dad, is there anything you need to clear with me?" He said, without pause, "No, you've been a perfect son." I cried. Of course I wasn't perfect, but when your lifetime idol says that, your heart melts and you beam within. A lot.
Anything you care to share?
I hate to make it seem light-hearted, but maybe in a fortunate way, the picture below is of a drawing/school assignment my youngest gave me before we hosted Thanksgiving last year and sadly (or not) it is #1 for me. Somebody gets me.
I hate to make it seem light-hearted, but maybe in a fortunate way, the picture below is of a drawing/school assignment my youngest gave me before we hosted Thanksgiving last year and sadly (or not) it is #1 for me. Somebody gets me.
For a youngster, that's really deep..And tres cool..
Many years ago my mom's oldest sister was in stage 4 colon cancer and had stopped treatment and was in the hospital about to be discharged home for hospice. I was about 19.
She had just had enough and wanted to pass at home. No more chemo. My dad and I are both sacastic jokers. When we went to visit her before discharge we made her laugh w our normal father son banter and joking.
We were about to leave she pulled me aside and told me to do well and take care of myself as she wouldn't be around to see me grow into my adulthood. She wanted me to know how much she loved me and WA Ted me to do well.
So Selfless and something I will cherish till I pass on myself. To have someone care that much while in pain and dying. Amazing
Many years ago my mom's oldest sister was in stage 4 colon cancer and had stopped treatment and was in the hospital about to be discharged home for hospice. I was about 19.
She had just had enough and wanted to pass at home. No more chemo. My dad and I are both sacastic jokers. When we went to visit her before discharge we made her laugh w our normal father son banter and joking.
We were about to leave she pulled me aside and told me to do well and take care of myself as she wouldn't be around to see me grow into my adulthood. She wanted me to know how much she loved me and WA Ted me to do well.
So Selfless and something I will cherish till I pass on myself. To have someone care that much while in pain and dying. Amazing
We were about to leave she pulled me aside and told me to do well and take care of myself as she wouldn't be around to see me grow into my adulthood.
Powerful
The day after her 93rd birthday, I got a call from the nursing home that she was being put on hospice and they felt she wouldn't likely make it through the day. I called my doctor to tell him that I had to go see her no matter what. he said i could go but needed to have a mask, gloves, and gown to go see her. The nursing home set me up with them, and went in to see her. She was unconscious and breathing very heavily. I said to her that I was here and that I loved her and all. She always worried about me, so I told her "it's alright to let go and I'll be alright" as I held her frail hand. As I said that I felt her squeeze my hand and looked to see a tear running down from corner of her eye.
Within about a few minutes from then, I watched her take her final breath. I still to this day can hear that final breath. It wasn't so much as words, like your dad, but a subtle jesture(s) that were very heartfelt.
👍
The day after her 93rd birthday, I got a call from the nursing home that she was being put on hospice and they felt she wouldn't likely make it through the day. I called my doctor to tell him that I had to go see her no matter what. he said i could go but needed to have a mask, gloves, and gown to go see her. The nursing home set me up with them, and went in to see her. She was unconscious and breathing very heavily. I said to her that I was here and that I loved her and all. She always worried about me, so I told her "it's alright to let go and I'll be alright" as I held her frail hand. As I said that I felt her squeeze my hand and looked to see a tear running down from corner of her eye.
Within about a few minutes from then, I watched her take her final breath. I still to this day can hear that final breath. It wasn't so much as words, like your dad, but a subtle jesture(s) that were very heartfelt.
❤️
So sorry for your loss. Losing a parent can be brutal..
She wasnt complimenting me. It wasnt like, oh hey nice job. It was just an observation, but it meant more to me than any compliment Ive ever gotten.
So theres one on the other end of the circle of life from BBs. Theyre all special.
It was such a simple thing but it was said with such emotion. I wanted to say something in return but it's kind of hard to think of things at a time like that, so I just smiled and left.
Fortunately all went well and we're adding more good times to the ledger!
He went into home hospice just the day before he died, and I was with him that day when his oncologist (another fan; they'd bonded over it) told him that his fight was over, and there was nothing he could do to help him. The room was just so heavy and somber. Saddest moments of my life. The weight of it was too much for my brother, and as the dr walked out of the room, he said, "Hey, Go Giants!" He'd barely spoken at all for a day or so, and it was literally the one of two meaningful things he said before he died. The next morning, he was in a coma.
I know he was trying to lighten the mood for me as much as anything. (We weren't exactly sentimental.) I smile every time I remember it--and her a little choked up, too.
The thing is, I knew then and I know now that I was an average junior officer at best. But one thing I always prided myself is that I would go to the end of the world for my Marines, and I made sure my Marines knew that I cared about each one of them and that they could count on me to do my best for them.
To this day, I think about what kind of lasting impact I can have on others by showing them that I care. And what I heard that day makes me feel that I'm doing it right.
What, were you weak in riding a horse in formation?
And I never did. Thanks Dad!
December 26, 2013 my grandmother(who had been suffering for 5 years from chronic and terminal lung issues) was put back in the hospital for struggling to breathe. she was on oxygen 24/7 for about 4 and a half years before this happened. We also knew that when she was first diagnosed(believe it was COPD) that she would live about another 5 years. When my father took her to the hospital that night, I knew she was never coming home. Fastforward a few days, I went to see her in the hospital and she was awake and seemed fine, but the doctors told us her heart was failing and this is the end game of this disease. I was devastated as I became so close to her. I was in Atlantic City for NYE and got a call from my father that it would be any day, the next day I went to the hospital directly from AC. I walked into the room with my brother and girlfriend. My brother and I standing at her bedside crying, just knowing that her life was over. I became INCREDIBLY close to my grandmother for the last 5 years of her life as she came to live with us when she got sick. While in the room, she mouthed "hold my hand." I was devastated and she knew it. She was so afraid to die as she talked about it throughout the last 5 years of her life. She knew I was crying and at this point she had to know it was the end of her life. As i cried and held her hand, she turned slightly to look at me, lifted my hand, took off her oxygen mask and went to kiss my hand. At this point I said, nanny its okay put the mask back on, she did. i know that kiss was her way to say i love you, its okay and thank you for everything(I was one of her caregivers during the previous 4-5 years). a day later she was gone, and to this day i regret not letting her kiss my hand. But boy was that a crazy emotional moment for me and a story I have shared only a couple of times.
sorry for the length lol
Quote:
I was an average junior officer at best. But one thing I always prided myself is that I would go to the end of the world for my Marines, and I made sure my Marines knew that I cared about each one of them and that they could count on me to do my best for them.
What, were you weak in riding a horse in formation?
As much as we would all like to believe that caring about your Marines (or soldiers, airman, or sailor) was the most important mark of being a great officer, often it's not seen that way. While I was tactically and technically proficient as a Lieutenant, many of my peers were just more confident and seemed to be better at it. It wasn't until I served as an advisor to an Iraqi army battalion in Ramadi that I realize that I was actually a pretty damn good officer.
/it was half-joking
/but also half serious
Back in L.A. We were changing rooms in our house to prepare one for our first child. The room was my office, which we had to move downstairs. Lots of boxes of scripts, computer (big one at that time, and printer, HP2), lots of LP's, in short LOTS of heavy stuff.
I asked a friend if he knew of some guys who wanted to make some money helping me move the stuff. He came by with a couple of, I guess, Mexicans. They spoke little English.
We dug in. About a five hour job. I didn't supervise, but helped a lot,got coffee for the guys, some soda's, etc. When we were near the end, we were sitting around taking a break and one of Mexican guys turned to me and said, "You're a good man."
That's all. I thanked him and we continued. Those words and the meaning behind them are still with me.
His wife told me afterwards that Jeff had told her that he was sorry b/c he was looking forward to being my good friend for years...
I had a similar, but not quite as wonderful experience. Back in 1980 my dad went into the hospital for the 1st time in his life. He needed a hip replacement. They cut the ball off the femur and discovered the inside of the hip covered with cancer. Lymphoma. So they couldnt put in the hip.
Over the next 18 months he had radiation and worked hard to walk. The scar tissue formed a joint in the middle of his thigh and he was walking with a cane. We became very close. I saw him every weekend (I was 30 - he was 67).
He and my mom were told by the oncologist he was beating the cancer. I happened to call the oncologist about a new vitamin treatment in Canada I had read about and he told me not to bother - that my dad had only a couple of months to live and nothing could be done - and that my parents didn't know and would I please tell them.
I didn't. I couldn't. But it ruined my time with him those last three months. I'd be at their house listening to them make plans knowing there wasn't time. Then one Sat morning my mom called with panic in her voice that something was happening to my father - that she thinks he was having a stroke. My wife and I rushed to the house and my dad was in his chair and it was apparent the cancer had spread to his brain.
He was very scared and asked me what was happening to him and I, filled with emotion of my own, blurt out: "You're dying dad." Within a hour he was unconscious. We got a hospital bed put in the living room and my wife and I stayed there for the two weeks until he died. He never woke up or spoke again. However, at the moment of his death, I was holding his hand and whispered to him that I loved him - and his eyes opened, a tear ran down his cheek, and he squeezed my hand.
And here I am writing this in 2016 with tears running down my cheeks some 35 years later.
I had a similar, but not quite as wonderful experience. Back in 1980 my dad went into the hospital for the 1st time in his life. He needed a hip replacement. They cut the ball off the femur and discovered the inside of the hip covered with cancer. Lymphoma. So they couldnt put in the hip.
Over the next 18 months he had radiation and worked hard to walk. The scar tissue formed a joint in the middle of his thigh and he was walking with a cane. We became very close. I saw him every weekend (I was 30 - he was 67).
He and my mom were told by the oncologist he was beating the cancer. I happened to call the oncologist about a new vitamin treatment in Canada I had read about and he told me not to bother - that my dad had only a couple of months to live and nothing could be done - and that my parents didn't know and would I please tell them.
I didn't. I couldn't. But it ruined my time with him those last three months. I'd be at their house listening to them make plans knowing there wasn't time. Then one Sat morning my mom called with panic in her voice that something was happening to my father - that she thinks he was having a stroke. My wife and I rushed to the house and my dad was in his chair and it was apparent the cancer had spread to his brain.
He was very scared and asked me what was happening to him and I, filled with emotion of my own, blurt out: "You're dying dad." Within a hour he was unconscious. We got a hospital bed put in the living room and my wife and I stayed there for the two weeks until he died. He never woke up or spoke again. However, at the moment of his death, I was holding his hand and whispered to him that I loved him - and his eyes opened, a tear ran down his cheek, and he squeezed my hand.
And here I am writing this in 2016 with tears running down my cheeks some 35 years later.
Wow. That gave me chills..As an aside to my experience, when I found out my Dad's cancer was incurable, I told the Hospital staff that I wanted to break the news to him..To me, it was personal. To the hospital, it was business as usual..They were NOT going to tell this wonderful man that his time was up..
So picture the scene. You are already ripped wpart with emotion and the hospital says that Medicare would no longer pay for his stay, that his disgnosis didn't warrant the coverage..
I turned to the assembled staff and said, "Okay, this is how it's going to work. I am a Doctor and I know how all this works. I don't care how you do this, but he is NOT leaving this hospital. You don't want to fuck with me, trust me." They "found" a heart irregularity which allowed him to stay. He passed the next day..
I noticed that one guy named Fritz, who normally was the most happy go lucky guy in the group hadn't unwrapped his bottle. I went over to ask him why and he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said " I want to take this home and open it with my family so I can show them what my American friends did for me."
Seriously.