Nearing death, two people offer a journalist and caregiver life lessons [View all]
Evelyn pulled her wheelchair close to the bathroom sink and went through her morning ritual. Combing her black hair. Brushing her false teeth. Putting on her makeup.
"Sit down, I want to talk with you," she said.
I sat on the closed toilet seat, two cameras on my lap, ready to photograph her, as I had so many times before.
"How's your dad?" she asked.
"He is not well," I said. "He is struggling."
She stopped applying her makeup and turned to me. "Look. He is likely not going to make it, and you're going to have to be OK with that."
It was classic Evelyn, blunt and to the point. Her lipstick done, she rolled her wheelchair slowly backward, then reached over and flicked off the light. "Didi, come get me," she called to her caregiver, who was cooking breakfast.
She left me sitting there, alone. She had just said what the doctors would not. My father was dying.
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Love. Forgive. Be present. And then let go.
This is a good read, sad but good. http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-c1-caregiver-20141218-story.html#page=1
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