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The last hours are a very precious time and at the same time they can be disturbing. We never know when the final breath will come and especially if a loved one is in pain the feelings are strong and complicated. In some situations I have known the family being so insistent on the dying one recovering that they have almost stopped them from passing on. A friend of mine remarked that they had pleaded with her father not to die before the first granddaughter was born and he did hold on but my friend said that it was only when he had died that she realised just what it had cost him. In some circumstances people almost need permission to go - to pass peacefully. When death is inevitable the gift of the living is to let go graciously so that the dying person passes without regrets and without the feeling that they are leaving their loved ones in a perilous position. On one occasion I arrived unexpectedly into a house where my good friends lived. He had been ill at the time but I hadn't realised how terminal it was. The whole family were around him on his death bed and couldn't bear him to go. I was able to say that it was time and to allow himself to drift away. This man had an amazingly strong faith and his countenance changed from being worried and anxious about those he was leaving behind to peacefully passing from this world with hope.