Our Last Conversation

After two weeks in the hospital she was transferred to the ICU. I was by her side. We sat quietly. I offered small talk about my morning at home. She made brief replies, her breathing very labored. Then she listed to one side. She couldn’t talk. I took her hand and she squeezed and caressed mine.

“Thank you for sharing your life with me.”

She squeezed my hand.

“Our years together were the best years of my life.”

She squeezed my hand.

“When I first saw you I thought, ‘She’s the one for me.’”

She squeezed my hand.

“I love you.”

She squeezed my hand.

And then the squeezing stopped.