Dying alone

Let’s consider this becoming familiar situation: “I can’t believe he’s dead,” read the text from a friend. He who was in his early 40s and single. He hadn’t shown up to work one morning, a friend said. After not picking up calls or texts, his co-workers ventured to his apartment. No answer. Later, after contacting authorities to access the premises, they found him on the kitchen floor. He had died of cardiac arrest. Alone.”

But what if you really have a family but you just can’t see them in your last days because of your dreaded disease?

There are various moments when loneliness engulfs us. And in most cases, these are unavoidable. Dying alone is one. A time when one is supposed to be with his loved ones to say words of love, longing and gratefulness. But because of circumstance that needs the family members to be away and so making the entire ordeal so unbearable.

Just is the case of our brothers and sisters who, because of the coronavirus disease, they have no way to be with their family members and until they passed away, only their ashes will be turned over.

For many, the last few moments with loved ones are meaningful. This is the time to apologize for the shortcomings and for the wishes that things will come out for the better.

This is also the chance of reminiscing good memories and renewing the commitment to love each other even more. Just few years ago, my brother died with only a close relative on his side. We were so preoccupied when that sad end happened. A sad dawn, he was not able to see the new day of hope.

Being with somebody on his last days or hours resembles to treat others the manner in which we would need to be dealt with. I believe there’s an option that is greater than us out there, something that knows every one of us with every one of our flaws and qualities, call it God or karma or whatever name addresses us. In the event that every one of us attempted to treat others the manner in which we would need to be dealt with, things around here would be a whole lot nicer for us all. Are we always gonna get it right? No. However, that doesn’t mean we should quit attempting. We might want to be the best humans we can be. Once in a while that implies simply holding somebody’s hand so he is not alone.

That is all we really are when we die: a body. It is not the body our loved ones remember, but the soul within. Death is finite, but love is forever. We may not be scared of dying alone not because we are scared we have not lived enough, but because we are scared that maybe we did not love enough. Love, similar to death, is one of life’s biggest games of chance, and passing has a way of placing things in context. We can’t circumvent figuring this may be the last time we will watch an entrancing sunset or see our friends and family once more, on the grounds that focusing on those possibilities robs us from experiencing the present. It is who or what we have right now that matters most.

Our loved ones will miss us if we die. But the truth is, we all die alone. Like our birth, our death is a solo journey.