The room was brightly lit with sunshine from the window with a
western exposure. Muted forest green covered the walls with a cornice
papered border of wildflowers and birds and natural settings. There was
one overstuffed chair in the corner covered in soft fabric that melded
with the flowers. On the table next to this chair was a lamp tall enough
for reading, the soft glow from its yellow bulb fuzzing through the
forms on its shade… the same wildflowers, the same birds, the same
natural settings. Against the western wall there was a bed wrapped tight
in a warm blanket the same hue as the walls. Huge sleeping pillows
bulged from beneath on the head end and resting on top of the blanket
were throw pillows of various sizes all adorned in the same flowers, the
same birds, the same natural settings.
In the wall running away from the window and facing the bed there
were many built-in shelves, the largest one in the middle housing a wide
screen television set. Another of the shelves had a boom-box radio/CD
player set on it and the rest were sprinkled with books, CD’s, videos,
and many knickknacks resembling wildflowers and birds and natural
settings.
Adjacent to the door along that wall there was a large, overstuffed
couch bookended by two chairs similar to the one near the window. All of
the same fabric. All with throws and pillows
featuring wildflowers, birds, and natural settings.
In the center of the room there sat a hospital bed. And in that bed
is where she lay with tubes running in and out of her. Tubes attached to
machinery set in the wall above the head of the bed. Tubes attached to
machinery on large rolling trees set beside the bed. Tubes that did not
speak of wildflowers, birds and natural settings. Tubes that spoke of
the end of these things.
Nurses came and went, checking one part of the apparatus or the
other, insuring the level of the fluid and medicine in one and the
other. Children, family, and friends were scattered about the room. Some
sitting on the spare bed and the chair near the far wall capturing their
feelings in quiet conversation. Others were on the sofa and chairs near
the door, silent sobs of sorrow belying the fresh sunshine that painted
gold the tears streaming. Others stood humbled in prayer or abject
misery or both; a difference of faith-a choice.
All were present. All mattered. All surrounded by wildflowers and
birds and natural settings. All witness to the most natural life has to
offer…the end.
As dinnertime neared the crowd began to slowly file out of the room
in search of the sustenance required to keep the vigil. Eventually I was
alone with her. I pulled one of the nurse’s stools next to the bed
where I sat and gently stroked her hand in mine. So warm! So alive! She
was asleep as I spoke to her softly of memories only she and I shared. I
was certain she heard me. The soft beeps from the machines she was
attached to were muted. The respirator attached to the clear mask
covering her mouth and nose ran whisper quiet in harmony with the rise
and fall of her chest.
The fight for her life was over. What remained lie before me as
shattered as the dreams her fifty years on this planet could not
fulfill.
Peeking her head into the room, her daughter whispered she would
give me a minute.
“Cathy?” I said as I squeezed her hand gently. She opened her
eyes and focused on the ceiling for a moment, then rolled her gaze to
look at mine. “Your children are here.”
She mumbled something from beneath her mask. I couldn’t
understand so I leaned closer and moved the mask to the side. With her
free hand she grabbed my shoulder with an unnatural strength and forced
me to look at her as she mumbled in what was left of her weakened voice,
“She said he is risen.” Then she looked around the room as though
her eyes were following something. They came back to rest on mine and
she winked once… then smiled. At this moment her children came back
into the room.
Soon the rest of the crowd was there in quiet conversation, prayer,
tears, and abject misery surrounded by wildflowers, birds, and natural
settings.
My sister died that evening.
My sister was an atheist.
The last words I heard my sister say in this life were,

“She said he is risen.”

That was amazing. Thanks for sharing that.




I have a similar instance in my life I'll post some time.

Powerful writting...... Nusalor

((((((((((( nus ))))))))))
Beautiful simply Beautiful,
So sad yet so Beautiful,,, Thank you Nus

((((((NUS))))))

((((((((((Nus))))))))) Beautiful....