Sunday, March 14, 2021

Mr. AOW Has Gone Home


On March 4, Mr. AOW (1949-2021) passed peacefully at the hospice facility: end stage renal failure with complications.  His passing was expected the past ten days or so.  He was at the hospice for eight and one-half days.

I was on my way to the hospice for my morning visit with him when I got the phone call.  

The hospice didn't see the usual signs in advance in order to summon me.  Just as well.  Mr. AOW and I decided years ago that I shouldn't sit bedside for the end.  

One moment, he was cracking a joke.  The next moment, he was gone.

While Mr. AOW was at the hospice for that brief time, he had more visitors and phone calls than he'd had in eleven and one-half here at home under post-stroke care.  What an irony!

I am grateful for the excellent care my husband received at the hospice.  This is what end-of-life care should be!  I'm also grateful that Mr. AOW was lucid right up to the very end.