Hi Trudy,
I just read your book Glimpses of Heaven and I loved it. My mother passed away four years ago and I am still having a very hard time—and I worry that I always will. I took good care of her for many years, but the night she died, I was not with her.
I feel she died all by herself and I can hardly stand it. Do you think God sent someone to be with her at that time, or was she alone?
She was in the ICU at the hospital and they would not let us in until it was time to visit. It seems that when she needed me most, I was not there. I can’t forgive myself. I just wanted to know what you think.
Thank you,
Elizabeth
Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for writing to me with this question. Many people worry about this very same thing when a loved one dies and they are not present.
No one ever dies alone. In some way known only to God, people experience everyone they have ever loved and everyone who has ever loved them as they are dying. We know this because people who are in the dying process sometimes do not die when we think they will and they tell us of loved ones (alive and some already in heaven) who have visited them.
You loved your mother very much, and I am sure she knew that very well. Please do not waste even one minute worrying about the fact that you were not at her bedside the moment she died. She has received her eternal reward in heaven now and understands everything. I am sure she would not want you to worry about this at all and is grateful for all your love and care.
Be at peace and live your life in a way that makes her very proud of you.
Blessings,
Trudy Harris
Trudy gets so many questions and stories of end-of-life experiences from Guideposts readers, we decided to make her responses a regular feature on her blog. If you have a story about a “glimpse of heaven,” please share it with us. Send it to glimpsesofheaven@guideposts.org.
