End of Life Labor

(Pre-script: This post is best paired with the song," Only Hope," go down to the playlist, click on that song, then come back and resume reading. I'll wait...) (...still waiting...)

I think that waiting for someone to die can be like labor pains. You go from moments of "he had a bad spell." clench, and everything tightens, squeezes the air out of the room, to then , "He had a much better day today," and aahhh, you can momentarily relax again. And sometimes you just voluntarily squeeze, clench as tightly as you can to the person, so that when the inevitable moment comes that you have no choice but to let go, release, you can. Hopefully. Maybe. Sort of. Almost. Labor pains at the end of a life, to let the person be born into his next life.
Even on the front side of childbirth, labor is difficult. No matter how many manuals you read or how many times you endure it, labor hurts. Some labors go on and on for a very long time. And then suddenly there is a person existing in a realm he or she did not exist in consciously before.
Derek's grandfather died last week. Everyone knew he was going to die; he was 92, and had had Alzheimer's and other medical issues for years. Still hurts.

-XOXO,