It may be painful, for example, to acknowledge the negativity in ourselves and find ways to externalize it. Each of us contains the potential to be a… - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Claudia reported that her depression eventually passed and she began to do more and get out more. She went back to work part-time and started accepting offers from friends to do things. “Time had passed; I was better, functional and improving, when suddenly the depression returned. I’d thought I was done with it, but I guess it wasn’t done with me. “This

It may not be until our lives are challenged that we realize we don't want to live like this, and that we may not have forever to clear the water.

When we finally had a patient, he welcomed me with open arms. He invited me to sit down and it was obvious that he was eager to speak. I told him that I did not wish to hear him now but would return the next day with my students. I was not sensitive enough to appreciate his communications. It was so hard to get one patient, I had to share him with my students. Little did I realize then that when such a patient says “Please sit down now,” tomorrow may be too late. When we revisited him the next day, he was lying back in his pillow, too weak to speak. He made a meager attempt to lift his arm and whispered “Thank you for trying” — he died less than an hour later and kept to himself what he wanted to share with us and what we so desperately wanted to learn.