A thought that keeps recurring to me: it may be difficult to know what to say - and some people stay away because of that difficulty - when someone you love has received the curtain call but the fact is that you yourself can get away from the subject, can go skiing or on a family outing or attend a party or a myriad other activities, but the person involved cannot ever get away. S/he has thought about little else ever since the diagnosis and even before, so get thee hence. Your presence alone says much.

The last thing I said to my brother was on the phone when we knew that death was imminent and I had returned home so he could be alone with his family was: Happy Trails to you.

And he laughed and said, The same to you.

The next morning he went into a coma, and he died two days later.