Quotes About Transition

It is not death that the very old tell me they fear. It is what happens short of death—losing their hearing, their memory, their best friends, their way of life. As Felix put it to me, "Old age is a continuous series of losses.

It used to be 'Two hip replacements today—yay!'" he recalled. "Then it became 'Two hip replacements today—ugh.

created a new difficulty for mankind: how to die. *

I gave S. a "Do you want to take over?" look.

I never made it to the other side.

As recently as 1945, most deaths occurred in the home. By the 1980s, just 17 percent did.

And then a new question arises: If independence is what we live for, what do we do when it can no longer be sustained? In

But experience brings a new role: I am expected to teach the procedure instead.

I am still adjusting to this role.

This has never been a problem before," people say. Until one day it is.

but the redness became virtually unnoticeable.

perfect their skills, and move on to a better position.

As Felix put it to me, "Old age is a continuous series of losses." Philip Roth put it more bitterly in his novel Everyman: "Old age is not a battle. Old age is a massacre.

he had to give up the firm to his partners.

Thirteen minutes after I took him off the ventilator

If independence is what we live for, what do we do when it can no longer be sustained?

Philip Roth put it more bitterly in his novel Everyman: "Old age is not a battle. Old age is a massacre.

How hard it is to sleep in the middle of life.

As the light wanes I see what I thought I was anxious to surrender I am only willing to lend

As a living creature I am part of two kinds of forces--growth and decay, sprouting and withering, living and dying, and at any given moment in our lives, each one of us is actively located somewhere along a continuum between those two forces.

As a living creature I am part of two kinds of forces—growth and decay, sprouting and withering, living and dying, and at any given moment of our lives, each one of us is actively located somewhere along a continuum between these two forces.

So that's what I'm here to become. And suddenly, this word fills me with a brand of sadness I haven't felt since childhood. The kind of sadness you feel at the end of summer. When the fireflies are gone, the ponds have dried up and the plants are wilted, weary from being so green.

In the opening to the Mary Tyler Moore Show Mary's in the supermarket, hurrying through the aisles. She pauses at the meat case, picks up a steak and checks the price. Then rolls her eyes, shrugs and tosses it in the cart. That's kind of how I feel. Sure I would have liked things to be different. But, 'roll of eyes' what can you do? 'shrug' I threw the meat in my cart and moved on.

This is what you should know about losing someone you love. They do not travel alone. You go with them.