Tag Archives: bucket list

HEARTS, FLOWERS and BUCKET LISTS

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Amy Getter

Hearts and flowers and sweethearts and love are mentioned everywhere in February. I frequently have opportunities to see gifts of love highlighted by the stark light of loss. This week, a bright bouquet of sun colored flowers were featured on … Continue reading →

Posted in daughter | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

DYING WITH YOUR BOOTS ON

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Amy Getter

Something I love about my job as a hospice nurse: there are many opportunities to be surprised.  One of my daily mantras is “expect the unexpected”.  As I drove down a switch-back gravel drive in the middle of nowhere, I … Continue reading →

Posted in family of the dying, living | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

TO WHIPPLE OR NOT TO WHIPPLE

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Amy Getter

I recently discovered that an acquaintance “has to have a Whipple procedure”.  And I can’t help but think to myself, who says she “has to”? With an average life expectancy of well under a year, I have come to believe … Continue reading →

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A MONSTER IN THE CLOSET

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Amy Getter

Mary and I sat quietly together, talking about her dying.  Light increases her headaches, so she lays in a dark room most of the day.  She is rather pragmatic, facing her death many years before she ever expected with frequent stark remarks … Continue reading →

Posted in death bed vigil, hospice story | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

GETTING LEMONS

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Amy Getter

 No one wants to hear the words “It‘s actually a blessing,” or “God took them because He needed them more than we did,” or “They had a wonderful life” or “They were just too good for this world”. Never appropriate … Continue reading →

Posted in hospice story, surviving loss of a child | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment