A very dear friend sent the following message just a few hours ago. It contains so many great thoughts that I didn't want to keep it myself, and since I want to be able to come back to it at some point in the future and read it again, it gets posted here.
Hi Mikal
It's really late... after 1AM, but we are all on "death watch". Pretty much the entire family is here at my aunt's house. We've gone from praying, to eating, to making coffee, to sitting with her, to praying, to napping, and on and on and on.
She seems restful and at peace, unable to talk, open her eyes, or move (except for the occasional involuntary movements). We're anticipating just some hours from now she'll pass peacefully. It's actually been a very real, pronounced, and eye-opening experience to watch death so close and personal. While I was not present for my father's nor my grandfather's death, I thought I understood the process. Far from it... we never understand it. Only those entering and ultimately passing through it understand. Seems we can speculate and surmise what the process is like or will be from observation, interaction, or impressions, but there is a real lack of words and cognitive realization to express this process.
Each death is so unique, and so alone! The withdraw from the world around them as they enter inside themselves where there is sorting out, evaluating one's self and one's life. But inside, there is only room for one!
Eyes closed, in deep sleep is where the important work is done, on a level outsiders aren't aware of. Words are no longer necessary to communicate, because it only serves to keep them in this physical world, one they are trying to leave. Talking with loved one's that have died before them, they are no longer grounded to this earth. As death approaches, one last surge provides them with the spiritual energy to move on... then finally, the last breaths give rise to their chest, and as they exhale, their done... gone.
So simple, so elegant... the cycle of life is complete.
