In STANDING THE WATCH
The Greatest Gift, Lincoln Brown, at age 89 is in a Seattle hospital where his doctors tell him he has congestive heart failure, & give him just three months left to live. Lincoln reminds his son of the promise given that he would not die in a hospital.
His son drives Lincoln home to his cabin in the Olympic Peninsula rainforest so he can die in his own bed. His son & daughter-in-law, with the aid of a home health agency crew, begin standing the watch, without the company of either doctor or pastor.
At first in shifts, then in tandem they continue to honor their vow to the very end. When RJ Brown was 14, at home in London, England, her father was felled by rheumatoid arthritis. After months of decline, cared for by his wife & nurses, he died from pneumonia the day after Christmas.
RJ's mother promptly exiled her for weeks to a family friend. On her return home, she learnt quickly not to make any mention of her Daddy. No one would talk with her, answer her questions about death nor give any solace for her sadness.
Forty-two years later the Cosmos gives RJ a second chance, & she willingly devotes herself to whatever time her father-in-law has left. It turns out to be just thirteen days. As Lincoln's caregivers, RJ & her husband have, for years, kept a medical log for the State.
Now, in STANDING THE WATCH: The Greatest Gift, she weaves excerpts from this log with memories of family, friends who have died, e-mails between her ether correspondents, essays about life & death plus a bibliography of books she found comforting & lists that were useful. In this her firstmemoir, RJ Brown gently shares with you what she learnt & what it took to stand The Watch during her beloved Poppa's final days.
In STANDING THE WATCH
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