人生

With my father at the end

A death witnessed is just as painful, but easier to comprehend

A month or so ago my father died, in exactly the way we all hope to: at an immense age, at home, with his family, in little pain. Early in March he was absolutely himself and now he is gone. This is as good as it gets.

In his final weeks my mother, my sister and I marked each change. The mental transformation was mostly orderly. A sleepy lucidity gave way to episodes of incoherence and confusion. Vivid dreams, some upsetting, quieted gradually into repose. His body ached at the end and we gave him drops of morphine.

By stages, brief conversations were reduced to his whispers of “thank you” and “I love you”, and then silence.

您已閱讀16%(630字),剩餘84%(3380字)包含更多重要資訊,訂閱以繼續探索完整內容,並享受更多專屬服務。
版權聲明:本文版權歸FT中文網所有,未經允許任何單位或個人不得轉載,複製或以任何其他方式使用本文全部或部分,侵權必究。
設置字型大小×
最小
較小
默認
較大
最大
分享×