“Joel, It’s Time to Let Her Go.”
Why I fought the doctors but listened to my mom during my wife’s final moments.
Introduction
When my dad died in 2011, I knew my life would never be the same. That may be an egocentric statement but it is nonetheless true. As a child, I used to always worry what life would be like when my parents were no longer alive.
It was my greatest fear.
At 12, I broke down at the funeral of an uncle in his thirties who was run over by a car. Sobbing, I grabbed my dad and pleaded with him not to die too.
On his deathbed decades later, trapped in a body ravaged by an insidious liver disease, my dad whispered to me not to forget to take care of my wife as she was assuredly going to take care of me.
And, he asked me to make him this promise: “Please… I need for you and your two brothers to take care of your mom. She’s not going to have an easy time.”
Just like my dad. He never put himself first.
Dad passed away and he was proven right. Mom had a very difficult time, as expected. We all did.
Over the years, however, with the love of her remaining family, Mom built a new life for herself. She did not meet another romantic partner by choice…
