Reflecting on who will be by your side on your deathbed helps ensure that you nurture and maintain important relationships, reducing the likelihood of dying alone or with regrets about neglected connections.
Katie learned the importance of letting go of anger and pain, which allowed her to have a meaningful final visit with her father. She described it as a 'God moment,' where her father’s demeanor changed, and they shared an hour of reconciliation and peace.
Katie used the analogy of 'flushing the toilet' on all the years of pain, anger, and disappointment, symbolizing a complete release of negative emotions.
Prudence hoped to have her husband, children, and an angel by her side to help her transition into the next realm. She also expressed a desire to be available and supportive to her family in the present to ensure they would be there for her in the end.
Abigail’s near-death experience made her realize she was wasting time on trivial activities. She became more focused on pursuing her passions, such as sewing, cooking, and learning new skills, and she no longer feared death, viewing it as an inevitable event.
Jim believed there is more to existence after death, citing his brother’s voice appearing after his death and near-death experiences as evidence. He emphasized that just because something isn’t visible doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Bill organized his affairs and communicated openly with his family, including his grandchildren, about his impending death. He aimed to leave a positive legacy and ensure his loved ones remembered him with smiles rather than tears.
Charity, a nurse, wanted a compassionate healthcare team to support her loved ones during her passing. She emphasized the privilege of helping families navigate the end-of-life process and celebrating a life well-lived.
Karen volunteered for 'No One Dies Alone,' an organization that provides companionship to dying individuals whose families cannot be present. Volunteers offer comfort, play music, and ensure the dying person feels loved and supported.
Yvonne planned a celebratory deathbed experience with specific foods, champagne, and music from her favorite playlist. She also wanted her loved ones to wrap themselves in blankets she had made, symbolizing her love and the life she lived.
And follow my deep dive today.
Dr. Laura's Deep Dive. Dr. Laura's Deep Dive podcast. I think it's one of humanity's greatest fears. Dying with nobody giving a damn. But judging by the careless way some of you treat your most important relationships, you could be facing your final days without your loved ones at your side. I do think it's important to have you examine that. What does being on your deathbed mean to you? Who do you want?
to be there. How are you going to reflect on your life? In what ways might you kick yourself in the butt on your deathbed, thinking about the time you wasted being, I don't know, whatever? I think it's important to examine that today so you aren't full of regret later. This call from Katie is a good illustration of what I mean. At 93, her father was in hospice, dying without his daughter by his side, thanks to the years of pain and disappointment he had caused her.
luckily for both of them katie chose to let go of her anger in time to travel to see him for one last visit here's our conversation about what she called a god moment
Katie, welcome to the program. Hi, Dr. Laura. My father died last night. He was 93 years old and it was expected and he was on hospice care. But I just wanted to tell you how you have helped me over the years. I've had a rocky relationship with him probably most of my adult life. And many years ago, I used your analogy of letting him go like a hot air balloon.
And then over the years, as you've talked to more people about that same, you know, idea or people that have had difficult things with their parents, it just reinforced, yes, I just need to keep that. Let go, let go, you know, don't take it back and let go my expectations of having a great father. And about a month ago, I decided that I knew he was it.
nearing the end of his life. And I decided to go ahead and fly down to Southern California and see him. And I went into his, the acute care center where he was and talked to him. And about 10 minutes into the conversation, he said, he sat up in bed and he opened his eyes real big and he goes, you look like my daughter. And I said, yeah, yeah, dad, I'm your daughter. And everything about him changed his whole life.
appearance and his energy. And he just remembered things of the past. And he forgot that he was mad at me. And he forgot that he was mean and that he shouldn't talk kindly to me. And we had this amazing hour together. And I like this analogy of I flushed the toilet on all the years of pain and anger and disappointment.
And the apology that I thought I wanted and how I wanted him to acknowledge all the pain he had caused me, I just let go of it.
And he died last night, and I'm at peace with the whole thing. I mean, I sound emotional right now, but I am just so thankful that you've been in my ear for years, helping me through this difficult time. And today, I'm okay. And I just thank you so much. I'm really moved by what you've said. Wow. Thank you very much for calling to tell me that.
So tell me what you two talked about in that hour. Oh, we talked about all my children and what they're doing. And he used to play the clarinet and he can't, he hasn't been able to play it for the last 10 years because he has arthritis. And he goes, when I get to heaven, I'm going to play the clarinet. And he goes, music is going to be so amazing. He said, everything we have here on earth is going to sound like a minor key. And he said, I just can't wait to
You know, just to see and taste everything in heaven. And so we talked about things like that. But he just he wanted to know how I was doing and what was going on in my life. And it was just special. Wow. That's truly amazing. Yeah. Sounds like a miracle. It was. It was an absolute miracle. It was a God moment.
And it was just the fact that he didn't have a mean streak in him. And it was, yeah, thank you for your part of that. And if I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe that it could have happened. And yet, I don't think of any other better analogy than flushing the toilet on all that. Yeah.
It's vivid, yes. All that pain. Good idea. Flush the toilet. The two analogies are the hot air balloon and flushing the toilet. And flushing the toilet. One up, one down. Okay. Yes. Yes. Thank you so much. Oh, good for you. I'm happy for you. Thank you. You're welcome. I have to take a break. So take this time to sit, close your eyes, and imagine who you want to have hold your hand and say they love you and they're going to miss you.
When it's your last moments. I'll be right back. Dr. Laura's Deep Dive Podcast.
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Dr. Laura's Much Deeper Deep Dive Podcast. Have you ever heard the saying, learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you appreciate what you had? Through the conversations I've had with callers over the years, I know that many of you don't consider the way your actions and mixed up priorities could mean a lonely and abandoned life and not being cared about just when you want the most to have your loved ones there.
After one recent, exasperating call, I said, that's it.
I'm going to do a whole hour called Welcome to Your Deathbed, and we did. I asked callers to tell me who they would like by their side in their final hours and to think about what they'd need to do now in order to prepare for when that time came. Their responses are the focus of today's Deep Dive podcast. I found it fascinating to hear what things people hoped for, believed, and embraced, and I think you will too.
Prudence, welcome to the program. Thank you, Dr. Lara. Hi. Who I would like to be around me on my deathbed is my husband. He's 10 years older than me, so whether he's still alive when I'm passing or whether he's already died, I still want him to be there at my deathbed. I want all my kids to be there at my deathbed. I
I want to also, I would like an angel to be there to help me pass over, you know, help me die and just cross over into the next realm because I don't believe that. I think energy will never die. So I'm going to be here one minute and over there the next. And a regret I'm going to have is...
I think just not being around my older children, you know, as much as I had expected, but that's like my fantasy versus their reality, as you were talking about. And I think what I need to do now to make that happen is to, you know, just be there and be available for them while they are following their reality and, you know, just be there in whatever way that I can support them and my grandkids.
So that's what I want. What if? Yeah. What if no angel appears? Well, what if no angel appears, then it means, plan B is that if no angel appears or if there, I don't know if you're asking me if I, if, what if there's nothing else after this? No, no, no. I just, I'm asking about the angel. There could be something after this, but no angel gets you to it. It might be you have to take the elevator yourself.
Oh, I can take the elevator myself. I just want somebody, like an arrow pointing the way or something. I don't want to not know where I am or which way to go. So anyway. Yeah. I just want, yeah, that's what I want. What you just said was interesting. So you would like some, while you're still alive, you would like some security that you are going to heaven, et cetera. Yes. And which I...
I believe that I will. I do believe that. But I do believe... Okay, wait, wait, slow down, slow down. It's a leap of faith because there are no facts leading us to that there's specifically a heaven and a hell and all of that. So leap of faith. So I'm not trying to be a pain in the butt. I'm just wondering, since you have embraced this faith, what if at that moment you're not getting the assurance? Yeah.
Then what's happening at that moment that might help you as plan B? Well, I think what's going to help me is that I think I believe that I will still feel that sense of peace. And I think that I will be able to have enough faith even at that moment to just kind of wait and see, okay, what's my experience going to be? I think that I...
We'll have enough peace. Even at that point, I don't think I'll panic and be like, oh, there's no angel, so this is not what I was expecting. I believe that I will be able to sit there. I want my money back. There's no angel. Yeah, I want my money back. I think I'll be able to just kind of sit it out and be able to say, okay, then what's going to happen next? You know, just kind of wait. So you think, you believe you'll be that rational and calm?
I think so, except if, and maybe I'm going out on a limb and things are going down a rabbit hole, but maybe if it happens really quickly and I die real fast, and if it is just one minute you're here and the next minute you're not and you're somewhere else, what if I don't know what exactly happened? What if in that moment I don't understand what happened? Maybe at that moment I'll be a little confused and panicked.
And maybe that's what I'm kind of worried about sometimes. So you're worried about some level of consciousness after you're medically dead? Yes. And at that level of consciousness, not having clarity as to what is going to happen. That's interesting. Right. Okay. Yeah. Well, we'll rent you an angel. No, obviously. No, rent me an angel. Take care of this. Yeah. Yeah.
Tell your husband, if you're still here, bring me an angel. Yeah, really. Actually, the hospice people are angels, so maybe it just takes a different form. My number, 1-800-375-2872. This is interesting. I find even just one call, I find this fascinating. Some of the things we hope for, some of the things we choose to believe and embrace, and it's fascinating.
I'm hoping this will be very helpful to all of you listening, because we're all going to face this, except if you get obliterated in a car accident and you're instantaneously gone. And OK, but we're talking about deathbeds.
All right, Abigail, welcome to the program. Thank you, Dr. Lahr. I've been listening to you for many years, and I always appreciate your perspective on stuff. But listen, I'm 70, and I have a great family. I married well. I married wisely. I have three grown, ugly sons. Excellent.
I want to tell you that four years ago, I have a severe asthma and it's well controlled. But four years ago, I went to bed a Sunday night just like any other. And then in the middle of the night, I started having a respiratory attack. I went into the bathroom and tried to take care of it with my rescue inhaler. Well, long story short, let me cut to the chase.
I sat on the toilet because I was coughing so hard. I was leaking. And I thought, I'm dying. I'm really dying. And I called to my husband from the bathroom, who, by the way, it was one in the morning. He's usually out cold. How he heard my weak voice, I don't know. But I said, help me.
And then I remember him racing into the bathroom and seeing his faces. I said, help me. And that's all I remember. And he called 911. And fortunately, there was a – this is crazy. At 1 in the morning, there was an ambulance in our neighborhood that was going back to the hospital. I was intubated on my bathroom floor. I spent – I live in Washington, D.C., and we have great hospitals here. And I was intubated.
intubated and on pulmonary ICU for five days on a ventilator. And I did recover. And after that experience, I was forever changed because I thought to myself, well, my husband was with me and my great kids would be with me if I knew I had a terminal illness. But
I feel like I mentally kind of died, even though I never physically did. And it changed my perspective to the point where I look around the stuff that I was wasting time, scrolling around, reading stupid things on the computer. I just was not making the best of my life.
And I love to sew, and that kind of went by the wayside. And I love to cook, which I still do. But stuff that I wanted to learn to play the guitar. I wanted to speak better French. And I thought to myself,
Hey, the clock's ticking here, girl. If not now, then when? So I have no fear. It's so strange. I'm not afraid of dying at all. It's just like one of those things that's going to happen. It's just like, you know...
I just know it will happen. I mean, I know Thanksgiving will come in November, and I know Christmas will come in December, and it's just like it's one of those things you can predict. You don't know when it will happen, but you know it will. And I said, yeah, and I just like, I thought, you know, F this. I've got to... Okay, you've made several good points, and I'd like to emphasize one of the points you made indirectly, and that is...
When you realized you were incorrect, that this was the end, and came out of this, I think part of the lack of fear is your new commitment to living better. And I believe that's probably what helps people tremendously in dealing with concepts of death, is rebooting them so that today is just better than it would have been. And you're right, we don't waste it. You can overfill it.
Jim, welcome to the program. Hey, Dr. Laura, how are you? Good. Welcome to your deathbed moment that we're going to discuss. Two things I wanted to say. A hundred years ago, before the advent of a telescope or the microscope, if somebody were to say viruses existed or stars existed, nobody would have...
you know, or planets existed that we couldn't see with the naked eye. But now that we have technology, we know that it does exist, viruses or faraway planets. So just because we don't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That's true. My experience with or on a deathbed is for years,
And it's really faith-based. For years, I was brought up in a very dysfunctional family. I used to come home as a young college student getting off the plane and seeing all these kids getting off planes being greeted by their family, their mothers or fathers or brothers, sisters. And I would get off the plane and just waiting to see if my family was there. And more times than not, they were never there.
And for years after that, after I got out of college and was a young, successful professional, there were so many times where I get off a plane and reflexively I would just put my head down because I knew nobody was there to see me or to meet me. And I kind of equate that to the deathbed experience that I know when I get off that plane after it takes me from this blue planet that I know there's more.
I just know there's more. What that more is, I don't know. I think there's enough deathbed experiences or near-death experiences that will tell you that there is more. You mean even at this point you don't believe somebody, a human person, would be at your deathbed?
Really? You know, Dr. Laura, I don't know even if that would matter. I think it would provide comfort and would provide a transition. But I want to share with you something that happened. I recently lost a brother to drug abuse. He was 60 years of age and had a long history of drug abuse. And I called him. He was in Florida at the time. And I talked to him on his deathbed. And he says, you know, Jim, I'll see you on the other side. And
That night I was getting ready for bed and Dr. O'Leary, I'm telling you, out of the bathroom, out of this empty bathroom came my brother's voice and he said, Jim. And I dropped, I remember dropping the blanket and I called my wife in the other room. I said, did you call me? She says, no. It was his voice. There is more. I know there's more.
My faith tells me there's more, but I know just because I can't see it, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And I also go back to what Steve Jobs said on his deathbed when he started saying, wow, wow, wow. He saw something. And I know there's more. I just know there is. All right. Well, I certainly appreciate that input. And I know that people who have profound faiths find great solace in that, whether it's
it's real or not becomes irrelevant. If the faith is strong enough and it gives the person peace enough, I support it. A lot of people get critical. I don't. Bill, welcome to your deathbed. Timely subject, doctor. And I'm going to try to do, I'll let you lead this speech so I don't get yelled at by you.
What would you like me to start with? I am a terminal patient, so to speak, so I know it's coming. So I'm already doing those things and have been doing those things for about...
What are those things are you talking about? What are those things? The things to get ready, you know, having. No, tell me what those things are. Well, who do you who do you want at your deathbed? What do you want to leave behind? You know, the conditions that will exist after you're gone.
That's what I've been working on fervently with my wife, my kids, my grandkids. Well, how are they handling you being so organized and dealing with these things? How are they handling you being this way?
Well, I've always been organized, so it's not a difference in my culture, so to speak. But they, you know, two of the grandchildren don't understand it yet. They're too young to really grasp it.
But my oldest grandson, he's college age, so I sat him down and said, you know, you've seen me failing over the years. I've got lung issues, pulmonary issues, and cardiac issues. On top of that, I've got prostate cancer and possibly cancer.
So you told all of this to your grandchild, okay? And then what? My oldest. He's 18. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I told him the content that, look, when you're off at school, this is going to happen. I am going to pass. And, you know, that's part of life, blah, blah, blah. Don't drop everything you're doing and don't mourn me because
Because you've made my life so great, you know, did it in a positive context so that when I'm gone, he's not emotionally distraught. He's not. He can think of those words and think, you know, Grandpa was a great grandpa. That's perfect, Bill. That's perfect advice, I believe, even for people who are not so organized and not so organized.
comfortable dealing with deathbed, but to tell people, I sort of want you to remember me with a smile, not a whole lot of tears. And you've been wonderful, whatever it is you are, parent, child, sister, brother, friend. You've been wonderful. That's a great thing, to leave. It's more important than the money everybody fights over, you know. The number, 1-800-375-2872. Charity, welcome back.
Thank you so much, Dr. Laura. I've been looking forward to this moment. I am a nurse and I work in long-term care. And of course, on my deathbed, I would love to have my children at my side and my loved one. I'm divorced at this moment, so who knows who that might be.
But I really want a good health care team around me. I want a nurse to hold the hands and the hearts of my loved ones, because I know that that has been just a beautiful privilege for me. And I have families look up at me with...
when their loved one is passing and say, how can you do it? And I say, this is such a privilege and an honor to be holding your hands right now and celebrating a life well lived and help you navigate this moment. So
it truly has been an honor to serve at the bedside and to help little old ladies crawl in bed with their husbands as they pass, to serve coffee and tea, to ask about Christmases or to ask about their favorite music and something funny that may have happened along the way.
In long-term care, they're the deaths that we get to celebrate because they are lives well-lived instead of the ones that are cut short. So it truly is a beautiful, magical space. Well, I'm very honored that you called. Thank you. Thank you for doing your beautiful work.
And I've listened to you for years. And when you brought up this topic, I'm just, yes, I have to. I have to share that at my deathbed, I want warm, caring humans to help my family feel. Wonderful. Yeah. They help your family with your transition. You're a special woman, dear. You're a special woman. Karen.
Welcome to the program. Welcome to your deathbed. I keep saying it wrong. Welcome to your deathbed. Oh, I'm so happy to call in and speak with you. I have to tell you the last few calls have been phenomenal, especially this last one. What an impact. I have been privileged to work with an organization called No One Dies Alone, where we're
volunteers go into hospitals for someone who's dying and maybe their families can't be there in the evening or in the daytime or they're, they've traveled and an accident happened or whatever the reason is. And, and what it's given me, I, I,
volunteering for this after I was there for the deaths of both of my parents and my dad's best friend. And one of the things that has been emphasized that I just absolutely love and I hope that sharing this will help maybe young people who have to go through an experience of their family members or loved ones dying is this. And that is sharing that. So I want somebody who is comforting, not dismissive when I die. So I'm
someone who you know I've made an impact on so that they can say their goodbyes to me
When my parents both died, I told them a number of things. You've made an impact on so many people and then detailing what that was like on me. My dad, what did you teach me? My dad taught me fishing and reading and loving nature and so many things. And my mom, the same, her faith and caring about people, hospitality, thanking people.
my parents for loving me and for raising me, telling them that, you know, my mom and dad, you're the best mom ever and giving examples, you know, that I love her, that we'll be okay. You know, I want to know my kids will be okay when I'm gone, that they will have those treasured memories and think about all the positive things and that they've learned things from me that
they will take on in their life. You know, so I think it's important to give what you want to get. So I, when my parents died or friends or when I go into a
you know, sit with someone through No One Dies Alone. Whether they're awake or not, I know they can hear me. And I just say, you've made an impact on people. I may not know who these people are, but I want them to hear that. You've led a good life. You know, you are loved. I'll play, you know, usually we know what kind of music they might like. So I'll bring in music. I'll pray for them. Just listen.
And knowing that someone is there, hold their hand, you know, don't be, I think not being dismissive is so huge because many times when people are dying, they're experiencing all these things as others have talked about, you know, maybe it's the angel in the corner. Maybe they're alert and saying, oh, I see Joe over there. You know, he was my high school buddy. And it's,
If they're seeing it, you know, to be dismissive and say, oh, there's nobody there, you know, that's the wrong thing to do. So even in death, even in death, to be encouraging is really important. To be encouraging. Yes. To let them know there can be peace. Okay. Give us the name of the organization so other people might join. Yes. It's called No One Dies Alone. Dot org, dot com, whatever.
Oh, boy, that's a really good question. It's through hospitals. Not every hospital has one group. I think they should. It's all volunteers. They have a training program. So you learn, you know, how to how to talk, you know, things not to say, how to how to, you know, address different issues. And you're there because the families or the nursing staff have asked for someone to come because they also don't want anyone to die alone.
This is beautiful. Thank you so much, Karen. Oh, thank you for this topic. No One Dies Alone website is httpsnosdaf.com. Okay, there you go. N-O-S-D-A-F dot com. And thank you so much. Thank you very much. That's a good resource. F is for foundation. Fascinating. All right, we're going to keep this going. We're talking about your deathbed.
I know you're not necessarily, we did have one caller who said it was coming close, but we're talking about how to lead your life now based on the fact that one day you will be on our deathbed. Yvonne, welcome to your deathbed.
Hi, Dr. Laura. I love this topic. Everybody that knows me knows I have my deathbed all planned out already. Do you? Oh, pray tell. Yes. Yes, I have a deathbed food list that's ongoing because I want it to be a party. I want anyone who loves me to show up. Hopefully, I get a chance to do this and it's not some kind of sudden...
Terrible accident or something. But in any case, in the event that I get to be awake and I get to have the deathbed, I have specific foods from all over the places I've lived, people I've loved, things that they have made that I love. And, of course, champagne. I want music playing, you know, very...
eclectic list from my streaming music main playlist from my favorite hymns to Metallica and everything in between. And I would like them to, if they want to bring, I've made so many blankets and afghans and quilts and
Things in my life that I've given away to all the people, I would love them to wrap up in that and remember how much I loved them and that I didn't just die, but that I lived. Wow. Very uplifting. Very uplifting. Thank you so much.
She's throwing a party. It's all planned in advance. Financed and planned. You've got to love it. Cynthia, welcome to your deathbed. Hi, Dr. Laura. Such a privilege to talk with you today. Hi.
I have been thinking about this a lot, and I just think it's because my dad passed about two and a half years ago. And in that process, like, I just saw such a beautiful picture of what some families can do. And we didn't know my dad was going to go home from the hospital with cancer that was going to be irreparable. But about six months before that, we...
My brother and I felt a need to sit down and talk to him about his living will, and so we worked all that out and laughed through some of those parts. And so we knew exactly what he wanted to have happen, and so we took him home.
And what happened with him at home is a lot of what I want to have happen with me. And I have two brothers, and so the family all together were deciding things that needed to happen and working together as a team and getting the hospital bed at the house as needed. Okay, but now, okay, I think we're getting a little off track here. I'm talking about your deathbed.
Yes, so this is what I want to have happen with me too. Like the family surrounded, the family surrounded, the kids came, the grandkids came, and we only had him at home for two weeks. Now, that could be something that's different because, of course, that could go on longer and longer. But it was short-lived, and it was two weeks, and...
I thought it was very wonderful because I felt like the family is there comforting each other with him. That's right. We tend to think only of comforting the person who's passing, but we're comforting each other. Fabulous. Thank you very much for that. Tim, welcome to your deathbed. Hey, Dr. Lohr, how are you? Good. Good.
So I would like to be surrounded by my two daughters and my wife and sisters if they like to be there. If my daughters are crying a little bit, that's okay because that means they're going to miss me. I've talked to them before and talked about what happens after dad goes and they're like, I don't want to talk about it. I can't, I'm not going to be able to survive when you're gone. I'm like, well, you're going to have to. And so if they want to say my
My dad jokes that I told him to laugh about. All the stupid. I have a great dad joke for you during Thanksgiving, by the way. You're going to love it. Oh, do you have one you could tell me now? Sure. Did you hear about the closet that had a bad temper? Closet that had a bad temper. Slammed. No, what? He's in hanger management. Dad jokes are the best.
Yeah. Yeah. So so that's an idea of why they're called dad jokes, because only dad is dumb enough to say them. Moms don't tell these jokes. OK. Yeah. Well, what you can do is tell your family that they all have to tell a dad joke on your deathbed. Yep. I like it. I like it. Are you going to throw them out?
No, no, no, no, no. You know, when my mom just died last year, and I remember you talking to someone who was losing her grandmother, and you told her, just tell her I'm going to miss you and I love you. And when my mother died, I was on a pheasant hunting trip, and my wife had to tell me, and she said, I don't know how to tell you this, but
your mom passed and I started crying and I said, I didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't get to say goodbye. But then I realized I did because she had lived with my sister for the past year. And I would go over there with my sisters and we'd make her dinner and we'd play cards. And I would tell her exactly what you said. I said, you know what, mom, I'm going to miss you. And I said, I love you. And I said, uh, I,
You know, thank you for raising me. We were total opposites as far as politics and religion. But it didn't matter, and it never hindered our relationship towards the end. And I would say to any family, unless your parents are just complete a-holes, just reconcile and just get over it and love them. And that's what I did with my mom. And we just...
you know, shared time together. And although I wasn't there when she died, I was there. I was there while she was alive. And I just think it's so important to spend that time with someone you love who you know doesn't have much, you know, much longer to live. Beautiful. Beautiful. Thank you, Tim. And I'm looking forward to you. Remind me that you called in on deathbed day when you tell your joke on
Thanksgiving. Corny joke. Yeah, well, that was going to be my joke, but I'm going to give you another one. I'll find another one. Okay. You must have a stack of them. Linda.
Welcome to your deathbed. Hi, Dr. Laura. Thanks for taking my call. This is a subject that you don't really want to talk about or think about, but I have to tell you that when my grandfather died, who, by the way, took us all in and raised us, my mom, my dad ran off anyway.
He had, we had the whole family around him and that's exactly what I want. My children, my husband, cousins, whoever can be there. I would like beautiful music playing in the background with lots of nature sounds. I went to visit somebody that was dying and that was in the background and it's the most peaceful feeling ever.
I also want my two labs right on the bed with me. Of course. Yeah, I got to have my dogs. Yes, absolutely. Oh, I know that one. The other interesting thing that I would like to share with my grandfather is, you know, people can't all be there at the same time. They come and they go. One day my mom and my grandmom had to go to the funeral home to make arrangements and I was asked to stay and
I never really stayed with a person by myself that was dying and I felt very uncomfortable so I picked up his golf magazine that he used to go for and I turned to a story that was something about Hawaii and I said, would you like me to read to you, Grandpa? And he said, sure. So I'm reading the story and you won't believe where it was leaning. It was
It was this beautiful ceremony that these Hawaiians have in this water cove area. And they take these leaves with little tea lights and they put them out in the water and they let it float out. And they remember people that have passed. Oh, so that's in the golf magazine. Whoa. Well, it was... I don't know why. It was just there. Maybe it was a Southern living. I don't know. But in any case...
I
kept reading knowing that it was going that direction and when I finished the story he turned his head and looked at me and he said that's the most beautiful thing that you could do for anyone and I was like very happy that that moment happened I would like people to share their time with me singly maybe that kind of moment could happen with them but in any case
He passed and we had a beautiful ceremony. I would like that as well. And the thing we did, I did with my husband and my kids is we... Okay, but we're keeping this to, I'm trying to keep this to your deathbed. Okay, right, right. Well, what we did is we made the candle and put it on the river where we live. And I would love somebody to do that for me. Excellent.
Excellent. Well, make sure they know that you'd like that. You have to tell people this stuff. I have to take a break. I want you to stop and pay more attention to how you're treating people these days. Because between now and dead, you better do a better job so when close to dead comes, they'll care. I'll be right back after this break. Dr. Laura's Deep Dive. Deep Dive Podcast. Deeper.
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I'm grateful for the depth people went to to express their thoughts, their fears, feelings, concerns, worry, and pain. I hope it has helped you to think about your own deathbed. Are you going to have regrets when that time comes? That you worked too much? Didn't tell someone what they meant to you? Who do you wish would be there? And what do you think you need to do to ensure that happens? Do you even want somebody there between now and death?
What can you improve so that there are no regrets when you are on your own deathbed? Now, go do the right thing. If you like this podcast, be sure to rate it on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen to my podcast. Of course, I'd love if you gave me five stars. And be sure to share this podcast with a friend on Facebook or your preferred social media platform.
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