I kept the condolence cards after my mother’s death. Every one of them. I saved the Facebook post announcing her passing, with all the comments from close and distant friends. The notes lit my darkest hour. I still can’t give them up. I may be buried with them. So many people reached out after she died. The …
Me: Scout, when you die, don’t get drawn into being a cat again. It says here animal lives don’t help you progress much toward enlightenment. Scout: How is enlightenment better than a warm lap and bottomless bowl of food? Me: ? Good question. I was reading the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche, with Scout the doula cat …
In 2014, my 88-year-old father-in-law passed out at breakfast, in the middle of his favorite restaurant. As the nearest relative, my husband got the call from the hospital. They said he would survive, but they would not release him to live independently. We had three days to find him a new home in an assisted …