Tag Archives: loss

HELLIDAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Amy Getter

“Did you survive the holidays?” I was asked at work, and was immediately struck by the absurdity of the question. I’m not the hospice patient, after all, and I was expected to survive the month of festivities. But I was … Continue reading →

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HUSH

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Amy Getter

You are most powerful when you are most silent.” — Alison McGhee, author Brian was now mostly quiet. He’d been a man in charge, working and amassing a fortune in the corporate world until his terminal cancer marched forward without … Continue reading →

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DYING, AND LIVING DELIBERATELY

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Amy Getter

With a look of confusion and uncertainty, she asks me “What’s next?” And Sandy wants to go outside. Though the fog lies heavily over the ocean waves, masking their beauty, we can hear the pounding surf sounds and scattered faint … Continue reading →

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LEAVES, GEESE AND OTHER RAMBLINGS

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Amy Getter

I watched a flock of geese flying into a field and recognized the poignant fact that fall was transitioning into winter.  I sensed a weight of sadness, knowing the individual shimmery colors would be replaced by grey, cold days, and … Continue reading →

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SMILE

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Amy Getter

As I sat listening to a great jazz rendition of the song “Smile”, I saw Ella in my mind’s eye.  I met her just briefly- in the middle of a humble living room, lying in her hospital bed, pale as the sheet over … Continue reading →

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THE SOUND OF AN EMPTY HOUSE

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Amy Getter

Someone mentioned today, how difficult it is to be left behind when the person you loved and cared for is gone- “the sound of an empty house”.  I thought back to a time when I was a newly single mom, … Continue reading →

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LESSONS IN LOSS

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Amy Getter

I remember my mother setting down her mandolin one day, and stating simply “I guess I won’t play anymore”.  I listened to Debra tell me that her rosary beads still hung around her neck, where they’d been for 40 years, … Continue reading →

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SEASONS

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Amy Getter

There is a season….. “Gentlemen should die by the time they are my age”, says my 80 year old patient.  He is indeed a gentleman- one who is slowly wasting away and losing his ability to remember what he had … Continue reading →

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