Thanks to all  of our readers who responded to Renée Blinn’s “Last Words” article.

There were so many wonderful anecdotes and stories that we felt like we just had to collect and share them:

1. “Okay Cakie…”

My Husband, Jay, was dying after a 2 1/2 year battle with a type of Leukemia. His nickname for me was “Babycakes” or “Cakie” for short, and his nickname was “Jaybird.”

I was laying on the bed next to him in our home, and the hospice nurse and our children were sitting in chairs around the bed. After a time, he stopped breathing, and had no pulse.

We thought he had passed. I was kissing his face and telling him how much I loved him.

Suddenly, he took a huge breath and his heart started beating again. This happened 3 different times in the course of an hour.

Finally, the Hospice nurse asked, “Jay, Do you see a white light?”

He turned to her and nodded “Yes.”

Then, the hospice nurse said to me, “Jeannie, he is trying to ‘cross over,’ but every time you kiss him and tell him how much you love him, he comes back, because he doesn’t want to leave you. You HAVE to give him permission to go!”

But of course, I didn’t want him to go. So then my son said to Jay, “Jaybird, We are all here, we are going to take care of Cakie; she’s going to be okay.”

Jay looked at my son and then over to me. Finally, I knew what I had to do.

“Jay,” I said, “Do you still see that white light?”

He nodded “Yes” one more time.

“It’s okay baby,” I said, through tears. “I’ll be okay. You go ahead and go to that white light.”

He looked deep into my eyes, and whispered, “Okay Cakie…I will!”

Then he just closed his eyes and peacefully passed away.

2. Life-Cycle

When my mom died, I made sure my 5 year old daughter came to the wake to say good bye.

We held hands in front of the coffin, and we hugged.

When I asked her how she felt, she wiped her eyes and said, “It’s OK Mommy, it’s all part of the bicycle of life.”

3. “Today…”

My Grandfather was having another heart attack, of several. He was on pain medication but talkative.

All at once he said, “I will see the Savior tomorrow,” then corrected himself and said. “No, today.”

He died peacefully shortly afterward.

4. “You say that to all the dads.”

My dad died at home at the age of 95.

He had actually been pretty mentally sound before he fell out of bed, hit his head and had a stroke. Up to then, he could still beat me at cards!

As a result of the stroke, he lost his ability to swallow and came home from the hospital to transition at home.

He lived 18 days, during most of which I got to care for him.

The day before he died, I was sitting across the room and noticed that his skin was very dry, so I went over to put some lotion on him.

Dad was pretty non-responsive by then, and I wasn’t expecting him to have a conversation with me or anything. But my dad had a tremendous sense of humor, and as I was rubbing lotion on his arm, I started to tease him, saying, “Oh Dad, you’re my FAVORITE dad!”

Without opening his eyes, he said back, “You say that to ALL the dads.”

And, I quipped back to him, “Yes, but you’re the only one I really mean it with.”

Then I saw the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile!

They were the last words he ever said.

5. “Home”

My Papa was in the hospital for 3 days before he died.

He was tested and had stage 4 lung cancer, emphysema, and pneumonia… basically a death sentence.

He told my mom that all he wanted was to die at home. We brought him home on a Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, and after he laid down in his room, my mom asked him, “Dad, do you know where you are? Look around. Where are you?”

He used all the strength in his body to turn his head and replied with a raspy voice, “Home.”

He died 2 hours later.

6. “Come get Grandma.”

Three months before my grandmother died, she dreamed she saw Grandpa, who died 20 years before.

She said he was beautiful.

I told my parents that Grandpa was preparing us for him to come to get her soon. She was 96 years old and in great health and spirits, was walking about 2 miles per day.

About a month before she died, her health rapidly deteriorated.

Before she died she spoke to people, looking at a blank wall that she could see but we could not. She was very excited and wanted us to go with her towards the wall.

She was restless and tried to get out of bed, so we had to have a nurse come by and give her a sedative to keep her still and not fall and hurt herself.

My sister, her granddaughter, held her hand the next day and asked out loud, “Grandpa, come and get Grandma.”

Grandma relaxed after that and died peacefully shortly after.

7. “Just Part of the Race”

My dad died 8 years ago from bone cancer, and that’s one of those painful diseases, but he always stayed strong and in a good mood.

He always used to say that life is a race, and problems are nothing but obstacles.

One night, my mom received a phone call saying that he was getting worse and worse as hours passed. My mom took my sisters and me to the hospital immediately, and we saw him getting into the ICU.

His last words were, “I’ll be fine, this is just part of the race, remember?”

He was a warrior, the strongest person I’ve known and will ever know.

8. Dad

”Take good care of the kids. I love you.”

Those were my dad’s last words before he died 12 years ago.

Heart Attack.

He was 48.

9. “It’s so cold.”

As an RN, I had an old Jewish woman who was dying. None of her children had come to see her.

I stayed at her side, and she suddenly looked at me and said, “It’s so cold, Mama! Hold me! It’s so cold.”

I didn’t know what else to do for her, so I sat on the bed and took her into my arms and held her until she passed away.

Her children were angry, because we called them in the night and woke them up to tell them their mother had died.

I could not believe their heartlessness and lack of love.

10. No Return

My mom’s last words were, “I’ll be right back.”

11. New Words

My grandfather died suddenly in my arms.

He screamed, “FUCK. SHIT. I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”

He didn’t curse like that, ever.

Then he got very quiet, lips blue, and turned towards me, eyes huge with terror, and reached towards my face before he seized and his eyes glazed over.

12. “It’s coming…”

I had a DNR resident who was not doing well.

I went in to check on her.

She just looked at me and said, “It’s time to go. You need to help me get there.”

I told her that wasn’t within my power.

She replied, “It’s coming, no matter if you help or not.”

She died two days later.

13. Fire

My step dad kept insisting his feet were on fire.

14. Haircut

I went to my ex’s funeral, and while I was there I was told that he had gone to get his hair cut the day before he died.

While there he told the beautician that he needed to get his hair cut because he wanted to look nice for his funeral.

15. “Come in.”

I had a bone marrow failure disease (Aplastic Anemia) and was in the hospital for a stem cell transplant.

I was extremely sick, and it took weeks for the new stem cells to “graft.”

One night, while I was sleeping, my mom heard a knock at the door and said, “Come in.”

No one opened the door, but suddenly, my mom thought of a little boy we knew named Parker who had passed maybe a year or two earlier.

She said, out loud, “You can play with her, but you can’t take her.”

That same night I had also dreamt about Parker.

16. Together

My grandma told me about a couple, she knew them of course; they were married and lived in the same nursing home but in separate rooms.

When the old lady was on her deathbed, she told the nurses that when she died, she would take her husband with her, and before the nurses could bring him to her, she died.

So, the nurses went to his room to tell him about her death, and they found him in his bed, dead.

That kinda freaked me out…

17. “I’m not going to make it.”

My dad was dealing with mesothelioma. He had just come home from the hospital after a bout with pneumonia.

He got up from his chair, and I helped him to the bathroom. When he came out, I was helping him to his chair, when he just looked at me and said, “I’m not going to make it!”

He was gone before he hit the floor.

18. “The Door.”

My grandma was in the hospital in the respite unit. She had been there only a few hours. She had been given a shot to calm her, although it didn’t do much good.

She was very restless. She was quiet for the most part, but then she kept saying, “The Door, the door.”

Finally my mom said, “What about the door?”

Grandma said, “Open. Door. Open.”

Mom said, “Mom, the door is open.”

Grandma settled down and was gone within a few minutes after that.

19. Call your Grandmother.

My great-grandmother’s last words were, “I just wanted to see my family one Christmas.”

She died 12/26/2011.

Only a few of us saw her that Christmas, and none of her children came.

This woman had no health problems and was just healthy as could be. It was awful finding her the next morning.

I miss that woman every day.

20. Diamonds and Stone

My nana sang, “Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Stone,” to all her loved ones surrounding her…

She then asked everyone to leave because she was tired.

When they had all left… she died.

I can still hear her singing.

21. “Answer the phone.”

I remember when my great grandfather passed at the age of 93.

He was under hospice care at my great uncle’s home. Myself, sisters and parents all had dreams of conversing and doing activities with him.

We were each told something different by him before he had to leave in the dream.

Just before sunrise everyone in the house awoke to his voice hollering, (in an informative way), to, “Answer the phone.”

I then remember lying there in bed and hearing The phone ring followed by my parents calling us into their room to tell us he had passed.

My siblings and I looked at each other and said, ” We know…” in unison.

Our parents asked us how, and we each talked about our dreams. Then, they told us theirs.

We know you can choose a lot of sites to read, but we want you to know that we’re thankful you chose Did You Know.

You rock! Thanks for reading!