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The Kitchen Table

Saying Goodbye

13 years ago

Thank you all my friends here. Really felt good to hear your heartfelt sympathies for Billy and my family. I would send you all thank you cards if I had your emails.

It'a 2 am here and still awake cause I'm trying to train another saint who is in his crate right now. yipping and yapping. we named him Seamus. It's the hardest thing to do, but pays off in the end. A trained dog in 2 weeks. I will try to post pics.

Wanted to share this -- we were all around Billy in the hospital room when we knew it wouldn't be long. My sister was playing his favorite songs on guitar -- "Desparado", "Please Come To Boston", "Sweet Baby James".

When he took his last breath, a tear came down his cheek and his wife was right there and grabbed it in her fist and said "don't cry anymore, I got your tear" then he smiled (he hadn't smiled in 3 months). Then he was gone.

I think this is amazing. I think Billy grieved for his family and then God came to him, told him he had to leave and invited him into his beautiful world. Reason for the tear and the smile.

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Comments (15)

jel48
13 years ago
May God's grace continue to be with you and the rest of Billy's family. I know it was a comfort to him to have the people he loved with him and to be able to see that his wife and family would be ok. It was the same with my sister when she left us a year and a half ago. It sounds like Billy went home in peace and that is a beautiful thing. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
minnie_tx
13 years ago
I think this is amazing. I think Billy grieved for his family and then God came to him, told him he had to leave and invited him into his beautiful world. Reason for the tear and the smile.

That is beautiful and I believe it too. What a wonderful memory this will be
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brightonborn
13 years ago
OMG tears streaming down my face at the image of what you so beautifully described as your brothers last moment.Thanks for sharing this amazing story.

jan.
mboston_gw
13 years ago
I waited to post this. When a relative of my husband, whose name was also Billy, was close to the end, the hospice lady took his wife aside and told her that he hanging on - waiting for her to tell him she would okay and he could go. She had more or less told him that many times before but this time when she did - he smiled at her and closed his eyes.

I am so sorry for all your family has had to deal with. May you all now have a sense of peace that he is in a better place.
dotmom
13 years ago
Trishany....what a sad and beautiful word picture you painted in your post. You all will be reunited again someday, but know your precious Billy is now whole, happy and pain free. May you and his family find peace in your memories of him.
sleeperblues
13 years ago
Trisha, Your descriptions of Billy and of his passing make me feel as if I had known him. I, too, am sitting here crying for a man I felt I knew. Blessings to you, your family, and Billy's family. He is at peace.
joann23456
13 years ago
Beautiful.
alisande
13 years ago
A beautiful story, Trish. Your sister-in-law was so wise to say that. Thank you for sharing.
lynn_d
13 years ago
Trisha, that is one of the most beautiful and intimate moments. Thank you so much for sharing it and I too hope and pray that those moments bring you peace and surround you with love.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
Thank you for an inspiring message, Trishany.

(((((Billy's family)))))

ole joyful
schoolhouse_gw
13 years ago
My SO was in a coma by the time I got to the hospital, a stroke at age 51, he never regained consciousness; but when I was stroking his head a tear rolled down. The nurse said, "Oh that's just the eye drops I put in". To this day, I'm not convinced.
Georgysmom
13 years ago
What a beautiful way to leave this world and enter the next.
tami_ohio
13 years ago
I will continue my prayers for you, and thank God that Billy is home with him, healthy and whole, waiting for you all.

Tami
glenda_al
13 years ago
Never easy!
I'm sorry!
arcy_gw
13 years ago
A lesson for us all to remember. Often the dieing need our permission to let go and die. It is important to give them that.

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