Mom was in the ICU for three weeks. The doctor suggested moving her to hospice. Taking a breath, I replied with certainty, “When she is ready, she will die at home.” EMTs brought Mom home delicately balanced on a stretcher. We felt like children opening the cage for an animal begging to be wild. With Alzheimer’s she didn’t know where she was, let alone who these large, handsome men were. Calling on her ninety-six years of gracious elegance, she looked up at me lovingly with little strength. “Did you offer these lovely boys some of the cake I baked yesterday?”
Reverend Maya Balle is an Interfaith Minister who creates rituals to celebrate life and ceremonies of remembrance. Find her at www.reverendmaya.com.