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Yi Xue's avatar

" Witnessing the end for so many people was a brash wakeup call that no matter how many children you have, there is no guarantee you will be surrounded by those you love when your end comes." My dear mom said something similar just weeks before her passing—that there was but one way to leave this world, to walk out alone.

Cherish every moment you have with the people you love because we don't always get to have them with us. ❤️

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Alicia Dara's avatar

Such an important lesson, one that is hard to learn until it might be too late! I'm going through this with elderly family members right now, as are many of my friends.

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Ali's avatar

A year ago we lost my Aunt @97. Despite her dementia, she was the same totally cool person as always. Her daughter, 79, also with dementia, is also the same selfcentered jerk she always has been.

I worry about which one I will be when/if I can no longer make that choice.

I did hospice care the last 5 years I could work. It’s my penance for being unable the serve the abusive people who birthed me. I’m glad, because it’s something was never exposed to before, and the realities of dying need to be understood. Nope. Not there yet though.

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Ali's avatar

Such a vivid depiction of the polarities involved with that dynamic. Many of us are still struggling to resolve that tension, long after they are gone.

BUT what’s the end of the joke???? Don’t leave us hanging!

“Have you heard the one about the guy who needed a push?”

_________??????

I’m a child free loner, only fringe relatives left, and really trying to prepare myself for the solo exit too. I’m a champ at being super prepared for solo road trips; that’s the template I guess.

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