Flo

[low_delta]

She fell out of bed one morning, in the nursing home. The nurse happened to walk in and found her washing blood from her hands. She had no idea what happened. She had had a stroke.

She seemed to recover from the stroke, but she didn't want to live any more. She asked not to be given food. That was over a week ago.

My mother said she has been saying for a couple of years now, that she's had her time here, and it's time to go. She just seemed anxious about living, like she couldn't understand why she was still around.

Flo's daughter made arrangements for her memorial service, and expected it to be last weekend. Now they're expecting it to be this weekend.

Comments

[serendipity.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about Flo. But I admire her ability to decide for herself and die with dignity.

My dad's mom was a tough, hardy woman who thrived after a couple of organ transplants. By the time she was in her 80's, though, her body consistently failed her. She was as sharp as ever, but towards the end of her life, in the nursing home, she said "Why can't I just die? I've lived my life, my body doesn't work right any more...." *sigh*

I don't know which is worse, to have your body go and your mind stay strong, or vice versa. My mom's mom was a frailer woman who got Alzheimer's disease. Although her brain steadily decreased its functioning, her body stayed healthy. She became nervous and combative and had to be strapped to her chair. Finally her body wore down - she was also in her 80's.

((((Kevin))))

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

i do understand that there can come a time when life, as one knows it to be, is over.......

i remember when my grandpa's will to live left him......it came after the last amputation that left him with nothing below his knees.....you see, he was a strong man who made his way in the world with brawn and hard work.....he never finished any schooling......he fished for cod using handlines from a dory........he fished for salmon in bristol bay in the days of sails and oars.....in the winter he ran a trapline......his honeymoon with grandma, was a winter on the trapline.......he learned carpentry by doing....there wasn't anything made of wood that he could not repair or rebuild.....and he kept his sense of humor, at least when that first leg was cut off below the knee......he could be a peg-legged sea captain then.......but when the other leg was amputated, the spark in his eyes left.....and the stories of the old days faded....and there was nothing anyone could do for him.....i think it was a relief for him to pass away......

[msfledermaus.livejournal.com]

Oh, Kevin, I'm so sorry. Losing someone is so hard.