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

by Hadley Vlahos

You taught me everything I know except one very important thing: You never taught me how to handle losing the most important person in my life. What am I going to do without you?”

I reminded myself to live for today, not the fears of tomorrow—a promise I had made to myself when I started working in hospice.

“The surge of energy almost everyone gets before dying,” he said, as if this was a well-known medical fact. I now know that the surge is a common occurrence. Often, loved ones who witness it think that the patient is somehow miraculously in the process of recovering. But to those in the know, it’s a sign that death is imminent and will likely occur within the next few days.

“We are comforting each other. Never apologize. We both love you so much. God put you in our lives. We both know this.”

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.’