tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post7115658459688432913..comments2024-03-29T06:02:33.720-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: A throe upon the features—Susan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-12748813369460091042022-07-09T14:25:08.939-07:002022-07-09T14:25:08.939-07:00ED’s description of dying may be accurate for some...ED’s description of dying may be accurate for some deaths but its first stanza is only partly right in my experience. My much loved 90-year-old mother-in-law died quietly without throes, her breath rate slowed to four per minute, her heart rate raced to 200 beats per minute in a last quiet cling to life.<br /><br />What rings true in 'A throe upon the features' is ED’s mention of “permission given”. During the last hour, the hospice nurse said she was waiting for her granddaughter, a trained end-of-life counsellor, who had spent many hours on the phone talking with her grandmother about death. The nurse was right. Within minutes of Kerry’s arrival and quiet gift of permission to die, her grandmother’s heart stopped beating.<br />Larry Bnoreply@blogger.com