Death is an inescapable part of the human story. We've always written about it; over time, the medium has changed.
For about a week now, NPR host Scott Simon has been at his mother's side, joking and singing songs with her as her condition deteriorated in the ICU. Simon has been livetweeting the whole thing.
Maybe that sounds creepy. And yet, the NPR Weekend Edition host has managed to weave in and out of his mother's closing chapters with just the right touch of wit, wisdom, and helplessness, inviting readers in just enough to make the personal feel universal (while taking the occasional jab at hospital food).
His mother, Patricia Lyons Simon Newman, passed away late Monday night. Here's a small portion of Simon's uniquely 21st-century tribute to his mother:
Mother called: "I can't talk. I'm surrounded by handsome men." Emergency surgery. If you can hold a thought for her now...
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 16, 2013
Tnx for nice thoughts for my mother. She's in recovery now, wheezing jokes through oxygen tube! Inspiration in aspiration!
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 17, 2013
I am getting a life's lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU. We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 25, 2013
My mother drifts to sleep listening to Nat's Unforgettable. I keep things light, but moments like this hard, if sweet.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
My mother: "Believe me, those great death bed speeches are written ahead of time. "
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
Mother asks, "Will this go on forever?" She means pain, dread. "No." She says, "But we'll go on forever. You & me." Yes.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
When my mother woke briefly I sang her My Best Girl. She replied w/ You Are the Sunshine of My Life. Broadway in the ICU.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
ICU seems to be staffed by good, smart young docs who think they know everything, and wise RN's who really do.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
Mother & I just finished a duet of We'll Meet Again. Every word has meaning. Nurse looks in, asks, "Do you take requests?"
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
I am not sure my mother understands Twitter or why I tell her millions of people love her--but she says she's ver touched.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
I think she wants me to pass along a couple of pieces of advice, ASAP. One: reach out to someone who seems lonely today.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
And: listen to people in their 80's. They have looked across the street at death for a decade. They know what's vital.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
Oh, and: Oh earth, you're too wonderful for anyone to realize you. It goes too quickly.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
Mother groans w/ pleasure--over flossing. "When they mention great little things in life, they usually forget flossing."
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
Breathing hard now. She sleeps, opens eyes a minute, sleeps. I sing, "I'll always be there, as frightened as you," to her.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
Was my mother saving this line? My family flies in. My wife & I joke about me sleeping in the ICU ("All the beeps! Can't -
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
-you med people keep it down?") Tell my mother I'll see my wife downstairs, back in 10. Mother says, "Have a quickie!"
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
I love holding my mother's hand. Haven't held it like this since I was 9. Why did I stop? I thought it unmanly? What crap.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
Mother cries Help Me at 2;30. Been holding her like a baby since. She's asleep now. All I can do is hold on to her.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
Can't hold my mother like a baby indefinitely--have to use the bathroom. My wife coming over w/ my mother's husband.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
I tell my mother, "You'll never stop teaching me." She said, "Well don't blame me for everything."
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
Heart rate dropping. Heart dropping.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 30, 2013
But as my mother said, the nice thing about being a Chicagoan is that she'll continue to be able to vote on Election Day.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 30, 2013