As my mom got closer to death, she began to express herself with a deeper level of authenticity and transparency.
Express Yourself – Say what you have to say, don’t hold things back.
#Embrace life how to
These are simple (although not easy) reminders for each of us about how to live life more fully: One of the most profound things my mom said a few weeks before she died was, “I want people to know that they don’t have to suffer through this.” As the end was getting closer, my mom’s awareness, insight, and desire to share her wisdom increased and it was beautiful.īelow are some of the key lessons I learned from her as she began to embrace death in the final days and weeks of her life. Doing this is much better for us than spending and wasting our time worrying, complaining, and surviving the circumstances, situations, and dramas of our lives, isn’t it? It allows us to remember what truly matters and to put things in a healthy and empowering perspective. What if we embraced death – our own and that of those around us – in a real, vulnerable, and genuine way? What if we lived life more aware of the fact that everyone around us, including ourselves, has a limited amount of time here on earth?Įmbracing death consciously alters our experience of ourselves, others, and life in a fundamental and transformational way. It often seems too scary, mysterious, personal, loaded, heavy, emotional, tragic, andmore. As a culture we don’t really talk about it, deal with it, or face it in an authentic way. While I’ve been feeling sadness and pain, I also feel a lot of love and appreciation – both for my mother’s life and all she taught me, and for the experience of being with her through her death.ĭeath teaches us so much about life and about ourselves, even though it can be very difficult to comprehend and experience – especially when the person dying is someone very close to us. I’m deeply engaged in my grief process right now – doing my best to stay present in the midst of the intense and contradictory thoughts and feelings I’ve been experiencing. Although the emotions of the births and the deaths were quite different, the level of intimacy, sacredness, and profundity were of similar impact and depth for me. I’m grateful and honored to have been able to experience all four of these magical moments live and in person. However, the closeness, family connection, deep conversations, healing, insights, love, forgiveness, and support have been some of the most wonderful aspects of all of this – while she was sick, as she was dying, and in the past month or so since her death.įour of the most intimate and sacred experiences of my life have been the births of our two girls and the deaths of each of my parents.
My mom’s physical pain and deterioration, realizing that she was going to die and that at thirty-seven years old I would be without either of my parents (my dad died almost ten years ago), and knowing that my girls would grow up without their grandma (who absolutely adored them), were some of the most difficult parts of the experience. It was both horrible and beautiful at the same time. I was honored and grateful to be with her through her dying process. The disease spread very quickly and on June 13th, she passed away. My mom, Lois Dempsey Robbins, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in early March.