I sat with my sister-in-law, a woman in her forties, as she succumbed to uterine cancer. During this final transition, I fussed about trying to help, washing her face, giving her sips of water or a bit of Popsicle to clear the taste each time her body purged. She suddenly stood up from her La-Z-Boy. I rose to steady her but she barked at me impatiently, "Ab, you've got to let me go!"
She rearranged herself in her chair and cried out, "HELP me!" She wasn’t talking to me. Then she said "Okay" and paused with her eyes closed, “okay,” pause, “okay,” four times - each “okay” more calm, more determined than the last. And then she was gone. ‘Though her body still purged, I sensed the moment she left.
