“When?”  When will my loved one die is often a question I am asked as a hospice nurse. I don’t know. I can give the clinical aspects of what I see in the dying process but there’s the other side, the spiritual aspect.

Recently I saw a gentleman who was close to the transition but I had no way of knowing “when”. I spoke with the family and comforted them best I could knowing it would be “soon”. The next day he was still on my schedule to see and so I called the wife, “Oh I guess you didn’t hear, he passed last night!” I felt like a complete ass, I should have known this; and yet my computer did not reflect this, I guess I hadn’t gotten the memo so to speak. I gave my condolences.

And then the wife shared with me what she had witnessed. Her husband had been semi-comatose most of the day and suddenly he opened his eyes, he was seeing beyond this world. He said, “It’s Mother, she has come for me!” and with that he took his last breathe.

I couldn’t help myself as I blurted out “That is so incredibly beautiful! What a gift for you!”

She responded excitedly, “Yes! It was beautiful! I know now he is with his Mother and I will see him again!” What a divine blessing to have witnessed his transition and to know in her heart he is safe with his mother, away from pain and suffering and waiting for her. And what a gift to me to have made a phone call that wasn’t needed.

The mysteries of life and death are beautiful.