While I was not present, I have been told the story of my dear grandmother’s death... She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for many years, significantly deteriorated by it’s signature dementia. Fr a long time, she had been in a mental ward, unable to recognize any of her loved ones but for fleeting, yet still irrational moments.
As the time of her death drew very near, her sons and daughters, accompanied by many of their children, gathered from the four corners to bid her a fond farewell and see her on her way.
In the last moments, she became absolutely lucid and free of pain - recognizing all of her loved ones gathered around her long enough to catch up on things and receive the love of them all, chatting as merrily as the many times we spent as a whole family at her kitchen table. Then her eyes shifted to the door, and she saw something which gave her incomparable joy... And with three sighing breaths, she was gone; nothing left but the eternally peaceful expression on her face.
Such a thing is a gift from God.
My own grandmother lay still in her coma as I thanked her profusely for all the joy she had brought to my life. Now, I had thought that there was no one home listening to my tribute. But, she began to stir, lifted her head from her pillow and rasped the words mustering all her waning strength, “I..... love.....you!” I was in shock, and extremely grateful to her, and God. Bob.
A friend died from leukemia back in Oct of 2009. I was not there when she passed away but the people there who witnessed her passing saw the peace she had and definitely felt the presence of Christ. Her last moment, she looked up like someone was there to take her and then she was gone.
She was a college student at Colorado Christian University. I saw her a few times at Church when she was in HS/College. At the time, I was single-divorced and I was kind of interested in her. She was similar to me, she liked her shorts and sandals like me. However, I was 19 years senior to her but she was cool and nice :)
When she was sick, I got to visit her like less than a week before she passed away and I took my son with me. He also went with me to her funeral service at CCU.
> In the last moments, she became absolutely lucid and free of pain - recognizing all of her loved ones gathered around her long enough to catch up on things and receive the love of them all, chatting as merrily as the many times we spent as a whole family at her kitchen table. Then her eyes shifted to the door, and she saw something which gave her incomparable joy... And with three sighing breaths, she was gone; nothing left but the eternally peaceful expression on her face.