The hospice nurse had mentioned to us that in her experience, some people prefer to die alone. She had observed families that had a 24-hour vigil with someone always in the room with the one who was dying. Eventually, the person on vigil would  leave for just a few minutes. When they would return, their loved one had passed away.

Calli felt as though Mom would be one that would like to die alone. We agreed, and decided to leave her room for ten minutes.

I peeked in about six minutes later. The nurses were in the room, verifying that she had passed away.

It was 11:31 a.m. on Sunday August 24, 2014.

I waited for the nurses to leave, then walked over to the bed.  A room that ten minutes before, which had been warm and full of life, was now cold and sterile.

Lorna had passed.  She was now surrounded by generations of love. A welcome-home celebration had begun.