Tag: Death and Dying
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Unfettered grief
Lealani Acosta Nashville, Tennessee, United States Innocence behind the bangs of a child. Innocence by Lealani Mae Acosta. My first glimpse of unfettered grief was through shaggy six-year-old bangs, watching my mother weep, hunched over the toilet and framed by moonlight that cast the pale blue tiles of their master bathroom into darkness. I…
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Ushers of life
Genevieve Kupsky Washington, D.C., USA Our obligation to our patients continues into the sunset of their lives. The sun sets on the cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C. in springtime. Photographer: Rami Halaseh “You are on holy ground. Time is sacred, and the veil is thin.” The chaplain left the newly-oriented volunteers with these words…
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La Pieta
Rachel Fleishman Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States La Pieta, 1498–1499, Michelangelo, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. Via Wikipedia. CC BY 2.5. A mother holds her dead child. His body flops open without resistance, freshly dead. His head is cocked back, shoulder lifted, arms release the last vestige of grip. Her face sullen, her hand beside…
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Death and dying
Tolani Olonisakin Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Memento mori, remember death. Photo Credit: Southtyrolean, Stencil art. Seville, Spain. Six weeks after I turned eighteen, I lost my father. I was told he died of a cardiac arrest. One minute he was reading the morning paper, and the next minute he lay sprawled across the living room floor,…
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My mom’s death
Kristen Erickson Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, United States My mom, Tracey, died just over nine years ago at the age of 39. I had just turned 16. Diagnosed with glioblastoma in July 2001, my mother’s last six months were filled with surgeries, infections, and radiation treatments. She rapidly declined in strength, followed by confusion and death.…