Sing and Dance

Her words froze me. I dropped my head because I felt tears coming. This is not ideal for the intensive care unit doctor who must always be composed. She is the mother of a child with cerebral palsy and has suffered through 26 years of caring for her daughter. This mother has forgotten more about perseverance than I will ever understand. Viral pneumonia has claimed her daughter’s life. She still exists, but her life, as she knew it, is over. The tracheostomy is just a tube. The bugaboo is the time that it would take to get home, which will never happen. I raised my head with tears held back and listened.

“She was born into a body that can’t do anything!” This was said with anger, even though she told me that God has a purpose in every circumstance. “I’m being selfish by keeping her alive aren’t I?” I reminded her that only she could decide which was best, because I didn’t love her daughter. “You are the one who loves this beautiful creature who has a soul that God cherishes.”

“I just want to see her sing and dance.” This presumably would occur in Heaven when they could be together. I knew there was only one way this could occur. Death would bring the release her mother craved and the moment that Jesus would welcome her daughter into His presence and dance with her. I checked our patient census the next day and she was categorized as “Deceased.” I could not prevent this death and could not soften the blow. What is it that I did then?

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