Tag Archives: parental death

      His 95-year-old mother is home from the hospital after a two-week stay for a pacemaker and pneumonia treatment. I ask how he’s doing, and he writes, “Tired but elated that she pulled through.”

     I know that feeling – tired but elated. When in that caregiver role, you are perpetually tired. And each health setback that doesn’t take your loved one away is cause for elation.

Until. Until you realize that the living is hard. That you’re not going to outrun death forever. That the end is inevitable. That there are worse things than dying. That your mother is going to leave you no matter what. No matter what you do, she will someday be gone forever.

But now, in this time and place, I too am elated for my cousin and my aunt. They have more time – they want more time. It’s still worth it. And they’ll both know when it isn’t.