The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments

by Hadley Vlahos

“You’re going to have to give up your ideal life in order to live the life planned for you.

“Hey, I know that one day you’ll have a long line of people waiting to greet you at the gates of Heaven, but they better get out of my way because I’ll be the first one to hug you when you get there, okay?”

When the time comes, we all want the same things: care, comfort, and connection.

‘What we once deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.’

Empathy, on the other hand, is the ability to feel for a person and their situation without being personally affected by it. Empathy allows me to be present and compassionate without taking on a situation as my own, and it has allowed me to continue being a good nurse without burning out or engaging in the dark humor that so many people in my profession do, for their own sanity. It has allowed me to be a witness to one of the most important moments in a person and their loved ones’ lives.