All of the people in hospice that we’ve talked to, from nurses to chaplains, think that this sort of drawn out dying process one of the most difficult things we as human beings do – and while it is hell on us to watch, it must be ever so worse for her to experience.

My friend’s mother-in-law recently passed away from cancer. A few weeks ago, on the phone – when her MIL was still alive – she said to me, “I just can’t wait until …” and she stopped herself. I told her that it’s okay – that right now, it’s harder for you guys to go through this right now than it is for her. She said her FIL said something similar: “We don’t have morphine to get us through this.”