This part is over

My friend died last night, at about 7:30.

Now, these words are not simply prosaic or clichéd. It's a relief and a blessing. For her and her family.

When I saw her Friday, it was clear she needed to go. That is the first time I have wished someone could die soon.

Even Wayne, I wished and prayed for him to live. I don't/didn't think his condition was like this, like hers. But perhaps it was and I just wouldn't see it. His death was sudden, though, and hers has been known of and waited for these last many months. I say it not because she was actively dying, as they call it, all that time. No. I say it because no one lives through Alzheimer's.

Her final decline and passing seem quick. That is good, really.