momtourage.net
A friend of mine (let's call her "X"), with two young sons (7 & 2 yrs old), recently took in her elderly mother and helped take care of her during her final days. As you can imagine, this was hard on X and her family.
Since X's mother passed, a neighbor and I were discussing delivering dinners to help X's family. During the conversation, the neighbor expressed that she "never would have allowed her children to see a loved one die like that." She felt that it would be too hard on her children.
I thought about what the neighbor
said afterward. It's true, it's no fun seeing someone you love
withering away, but to me, death is a natural part of life. In America,
we often leave the care of our elderly to professional strangers, but
in many cultures, it's expected that we take care of our elderly
parents.
Then I wondered, what if my neighbor was diagnosed with a terminal illness? Would she want her children to be shielded from seeing her that way? I know that I would want to see my children, even if it meant sadness in the end. What do you think?
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