Last week, my family made the decision to opt for end-of-life care rather than surgery for my (maternal) grandma after a medical emergency. Every day this week, hospice has told us it’s probably the last day, but she continues to just barely cling to life.
My family members and I have been with her around the clock, in shifts. She’s been totally unresponsive for days now. We’re all feeling very drained. It’s starting to feel frustratingly like the end may never come, but then we feel guilty for our impatience.
This is my mom and my grandpa. My grandma and grandpa have been married for nearly 70 years.
Edit: Thank you to everyone sharing their stories, it’s a certain comfort. And I hope anyone who has an issue with this post sees all these stories and realizes that’s the reason I posted this in the first place.
I feel this picture. I've done this twice. Once with my father in law, and once with my uncle. Just sitting, waiting, some crying, then more sitting, waiting, shift ends and another family member sits, crys, waits and so on.
Having been through a similar situation twice can I just say thank you for sharing this.
As a society we don't discuss this sort of thing enough and as a result people are scared and maybe ashamed at what they are feeling on top of the grief and sheer logistics of being there for you're loved ones at the end
![image showing Waiting in hospice [OC]](bacbd6a8-d5b8-52ef-b00e-3cd699d8919f.jpg)
grungebob_scarepants on July 16th, 2026 at 19:43 UTC »
Last week, my family made the decision to opt for end-of-life care rather than surgery for my (maternal) grandma after a medical emergency. Every day this week, hospice has told us it’s probably the last day, but she continues to just barely cling to life.
My family members and I have been with her around the clock, in shifts. She’s been totally unresponsive for days now. We’re all feeling very drained. It’s starting to feel frustratingly like the end may never come, but then we feel guilty for our impatience.
This is my mom and my grandpa. My grandma and grandpa have been married for nearly 70 years.
Edit: Thank you to everyone sharing their stories, it’s a certain comfort. And I hope anyone who has an issue with this post sees all these stories and realizes that’s the reason I posted this in the first place.
LocutusOfBeard on July 16th, 2026 at 19:58 UTC »
I feel this picture. I've done this twice. Once with my father in law, and once with my uncle. Just sitting, waiting, some crying, then more sitting, waiting, shift ends and another family member sits, crys, waits and so on.
mvrander on July 16th, 2026 at 20:13 UTC »
Having been through a similar situation twice can I just say thank you for sharing this.
As a society we don't discuss this sort of thing enough and as a result people are scared and maybe ashamed at what they are feeling on top of the grief and sheer logistics of being there for you're loved ones at the end
Starting a conversation matters sometimes