24. Lonely

“I work in long term care, and one of my residents was dying from lung cancer, we knew it was going to happen any day and she did too, she repeatedly stated she didn’t want to be alone so all Friday night nurses took turns sitting with her. When I came in Saturday morning they asked if I would sit with her (I worked in recreation). She was such a sweetheart and had no children but had a niece who hardly visited and when we called Friday basically said call me when she is dead.

Anyway this lady was laboring to breathe, in and out of consciousness but would always squeeze my hand if I squeezed hers. Finally I whispered in her ear, ‘the nurse just told me your niece is on the way.’ She died less than five minutes later, she just wanted to know someone was coming. Her niece never came :(“

25. Going Down

“I had an old lady flag me down in the hallway a few days before she died and with her emaciated face and bulging eyes, she said, ‘You know where I’m going.’ I asked her what she meant and she repeated herself. ‘You know where I’m going when I die. And it ain’t up.’

I was taken aback and asked her if she wanted to talk with the priest we have on staff. She shook her head and said, ‘It’s too late for that.’

A few days later, she was eating her supper and started screaming. She yelled, ‘Fire! Fire! There’s fire everywhere!’ She died a few hours later, quite suddenly.

I didn’t sleep that night and I really hope her soul found some rest.”