The Final Stage

A CNA clinical student asked me a heavy question: "Is it hard to lose one of the residents you care for?"

A question a few days prior prepared me to answer.  I witnessed one of our residents pass away.  The death was sudden, unexpected, and painless during a happy moment shared with us.  It happened while carrying on a conversation during a walk down the hall.  I'd imagine this is the way my resident would have wanted it to be, in the moment of happiness, sudden, and without pain.

The strange thing: Just before,  over lunch break my coworkers and I were just discussing who had witnessed death and who has yet to encounter it.  All of us at the table are rather new to our jobs and no one had ever witnessed death.  Little did we know that 2 hours after our conversation we would be face to face with death.

Back to the student's question:  "Is it hard to lose one of the residents you care for?"

I took a moment to gather my approach to respond.

"It depends on your spiritual beliefs.  I know how much our resident suffered with dementia in life and now is now free from the mind and body.  This brings me such peace with the situation.  Seeing the final stage in life has just supported my belief that the body is just an empty vessel after death." I said.

Believe as you will, but seeing this has made me realize that life is beautiful but temporal.  We all have our truths we chose to believe, however the fact is that life is short.  Everything people seem to value are only temporary- a lot of times, unimportant.  

Witnessing death happen right before my eyes gives me another perspective.  This supports my belief that the body is just a vessel carrying our soul.  I am reminded of this after I woke up after my brain tumor removal surgery to a broken body with disconnected communication from my brain to my nerves in the entire left side of my body.  I had to work very hard to relearn everything to rehabilitate my body. I remember a very important person telling me that life would not be easy.  I accepted the challenge because I felt that my work in this world was not over.  I will let that very important person decide when my time and what work will be considered complete.   

~LMc

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

~Matthew 6:19-21