Many years ago I was a hospice social worker. I have never forgotten one man I worked with and what he had to teach me about death and dying.

Date:   1/16/2012 5:44:44 PM ( 12 y ago)

Many years ago I was a hospice social worker. One of my patients was a man with pancreatic cancer and he was told that he had no more than 6 months to live. He decided to forgo further medical treatments or hospitalizations and made the decision with his wife that he would die at home.

Although he knew that his time on earth was limited, he had no fear. He believed with all of his heart and his soul that he was going to live on after death, and that he would see his two children again who had died years before.

He told me that when we are born, we each have an appointment with God. We don't know when our appointment is or how we are going to get there. He told me that his pancreatic cancer was just the vehicle to get him to his appointment. Even though he didn't know when his exact appointment was, he knew that it would be soon.

He told me he thought he had an advantage over me, because I had no idea when my appointment was or how I was going to get there. He said that I could leave his house and get hit by a car as I was crossing the street, or I could die by some other means years from then, but that for now I would remain uncertain as to how and when I would get to my appointment with God. His words certainly gave me much thought!

Whenever I came to his home to visit him, this man always made it a point to be up and out of bed, and was always well groomed and well dressed. Although weak, he was able to do most of his own self-care. About three months after he came onto hospice care, I received notice that he had died. This surprised me, because I had just visited him 2-3 days before his death, and he was as dapper and alert as usual.

I spoke with his wife on the phone to express my condolences. She told me the most amazing thing. The morning of her husband's death, he woke up and found that he was too weak to get out of bed. He called his wife in and said to her that it was time for him to die. She could not physically take care of him now that he was bedbound, being in poor health herself. They did not have the financial means to hire a caregiver, and he did not want to die in a nursing home, his only other option for care. He told his wife that she had to let him go.

The wife got in bed next to him and held him. She told him she loved him and that it was time for him to go to meet God and to see their children again. Her husband fell asleep. His wife held him as he slept for several hours. As he slept, his breathing slowed, slowed, and then stopped. Less that six hours after he decided it was time for him to die, he kept his appointment with God.

My experience up to that point was that many patients on hospice lingered for months, and some remained in comas for quite some time before death. This was the first time I'd ever heard about someone consciously dying by choosing the time of their own death. Since then, I've heard about shamans who also consciously pick the time and manner of their transitioning from the earthplane of existence to Beyond the Veil.

I always felt when I was a social worker that I learned more and was helped more by my patients than I ever helped them. This man was one of the most deeply spiritual people I've ever met, and one of my greatest teachers.

I often think about what he told me, and I've told other people about him frequently through the years. This is the first time I've written about him.

Companion Blog: 

Spirit Speaks: Live for Today: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1900721
Spirit Speaks about living in the NOW, and not fearing the future or death. As a human BEing living in the Dream of existence, I find this very difficult to live by!

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URL:   http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=1900704

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