By Debbie Moore-Black, RN
Last night working in the ICU, a male
nurse assistant approached me to tell me he had read one of my stories about how people can die peacefully, without the breathing machines, without the wrist restraints, without the IV’s and mutiple lab sticks. Without the confusion and chaos and delirium that comes with ICU’s.
He said his 89 year old grandmother, who practically raised him, told him that she didn’t want to live forever. That she had a good long life. And she was ready to go “home.”
He said , “working ICU, I didn’t know anything different. I just thought that was the way people died.” …. On a ventilator.
As he read my article: “Go Quiet into the night”, a peacefulness came over him. He wanted his grandmother to live forever, but he also wanted to honor her wishes.
He had dreaded that day that his Grandmother fell ill.
But he loved granny so much that he respected her wishes.
Granny laid in her bed at her home. The window was open as a sweet breeze came through those Irish lace curtains.
“Amazing Grace” through her radio sang.
Granny spoke of her beautiful homeland; the green fields of Ireland. The magic in the air. “When Irish eyes are smiling”🎶…. her devoted pup at her side.. her family holding hands crying for losing granny, crying for granny’s goodbyes.
And they sang softly with her….
Granny reached out and held her husband’s hand through the mist…. the husband she married so many years ago….how she missed him…. as she drifted in and out until she reached her homeland. Her ever-after.
She was finally home.
☘️ When Irish eyes are smiling…..
Sure it’s like a morn in spring. In the lilt of Irish laughter, you can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy, all the world seems bright and gay,
But when Irish eyes are smiling, sure they steal your heart away☘️
Dedicated to my twisted, funny, Irish dad!!! I’m sure you are always in trouble!!!
Do Not Resuscitate 