Death As Your Friend

I, like many others, work in senior living. An industry and profession I find deeply satisfying. So death is a topic that is not uncommon in my workplace. It's even one that is regularly discussed on different levels. Another common topic is kids, everyone likes kids, our residents like kids or staff like kids, kids are a deemed safe topic. Which is perhaps why the reaction to a recent conversation seems so surprising to me. A group of us were talking about what we'd like to see our kids grow to be as adults, both professionally and personally. When the question was posed to me I answered anything other than in the healthcare field. Doctors and nurses have such a better understanding of the human body and such a needed understanding of it. It has to be painful for them when they see that there is no more they can do and the person they're assisting is going to die. Now imagine when they're at the end of life with their parents? I never want to see that helpless look in the eyes of my children. I always want there to be hope. Can a doctor have hope in their eyes when they medically know their parent is going to die and there is nothing they or anyone else can do to stop it?
My response silenced the group, one of the gals said she'd never thought of doctors that way before but perhaps that's because she isn't a parent yet? Doctors and nurses are people too, with families and lives outside of the office and there will be a day for each of us when we take that last breath. Hopefully I'll be surrounded by my family and loved ones and my children will be at peace with what is going on versus going through the medical steps of how my body is finally betraying me. Or perhaps if my children do go into the healthcare field being able to go through the final steps of death will help them? Death isn't scary, Death is a friend for life, it walks beside you every step of the way and then finally welcomes you home in the end.