Reflections - Making the terminally ill feel better

"It is actually hard to write something that will make a terminally ill person feel better."

Miranda July, The Shared Patio in No One Belongs Here More Than You, p. 10

Did you think it would be easy? Does it make you anxious not knowing what to say when you might not ever see this person again, talk with this person again. You want it to be meaningful. You want it to be wise. You want it to be comforting. You want what you say make you feel better and make them feel better, but what? It is hard but do it. Don't avoid it. Don't chicken out. They know that you know that they are dying and you know that they know that you know that they are dying and so there is an awkwardness and yet the reach across the chasm is worth it. It is, in the last analysis what life is all about.