04/23/2026
Hello everyone...
This is the last tip from the “7 days of end-of-life tips.”
I hope they have been helpful, and brought you some comfort or clarity. I appreciate all the comments and personal stories shared, I read every single one!!
Sending you all so much love,
Gabby
❤
End-of-Life Tip #7
“What has death taught me?”
The first death I witnessed was when I was about eight years old. I blocked it out of my memory until I started working as a hospice nurse and wrote my second book, “The Hospice Heart,” where I share childhood stories that indicate I have been preparing to do this work my whole life.
You can find the story of "My First Death" here:
https://www.thehospiceheart.net/post/my-first-death
I have witnessed a lot of death, I have been present for more “goodbyes” than I can even count, and I have comforted thousands of people who were about to begin their grief journey. I have learned many lessons about life, through death.
Doing this work has me questioning my own mortality often. It makes me more aware of the boxes I want checked off before I go. It has opened my eyes so wide sometimes it burns, to how truly fragile life is, and how so many of us take it all for granted. I have used the phrase, “if I only knew then, what I know now,” a billion times. As a hospice nurse, an end-of-life doula, and a death and dying educator I am waist-high in the river of death and dying and yet, the more I swim here, the less I feel fear, and that comforts me. My hope is that I can help remove the fear for you as well.
I have so many take-aways from this work, and so many lessons that have helped me to become the kind of person I’ve always wanted to be, which is someone the people I love would be proud of. Maybe that is my biggest lesson, to live a life where I am my most authentic self, and that I leave a legacy behind that my children and their children would be proud to share.
When someone is dying, many people, myself included, sit at the bedside realizing how much time has been wasted. That last breath takes away future conversations, experiences, and memory making, so what I am reminded of, is how important it is to do that now while we can.
I have learned that we can’t go backwards, we can’t call a do-over, we can’t take back hurtful or unsaid words, or change situations where we could have done things differently. BUT!!! Death also reminds me that we can do things differently moving forward. It reminds me how truly blessed I am to be alive, to have family and friendships, to do work I am honored to do, to stare at the sky with child-like excitement, to dance like a teenager when my favorite song comes on, and to appreciate every single thing that I have in my life right now, and to no longer waste a moment of it or take anything for granted.
From this moment forward, make a difference in this world; for yourself, and for the people who are in your life. They matter. YOU matter. Life matters. Let’s be kinder to one another, more aware of the struggle’s others might be having, and extend a hand, or a hug. Let’s be the kind of people that the people who love us would be proud of. Nothing is guaranteed, all we can be certain of is right this moment… make it magically delicious!
What has death taught me? That time is a gift that cannot be bought, and we shouldn’t waste a minute of it. It has taught me to savor life.
xo
Gabby
www.thehospiceheart.net
For all of my tips, you can find my book “End of Life Tips” here:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Tips-Gabrielle-Elise-Jimenez/dp/B0C9G8PZZ5
