As death draws near, our fantasies provide solace and reconciliation.

Unwelcome guests-

Like other doctors, Dr. Kerr's first job in medicine was to take care of the physical needs of his patients. But he immediately became aware of a phenomenon that experienced nurses were well familiar with. Many patients experienced dreams and glimpses of their deceased loved ones visiting them in their final moments when they were close to passing away.

These incidents are often interpreted by doctors as drug-induced or delusional hallucinations that may call for additional medication or outright sedation.

But Dr. Kerr chose to take a moment and listen after observing the comfort and calm these end-of-life experiences seemed to provide to his patients. One such vision occurred to a dying patient named Mary in 2005. She started cooing at her infant kid who had passed away infancy decades earlier as she moved her arms as if rocking a newborn.

This didn't seem like cognitive impairment to Dr. Kerr. What if, he pondered, patients' perceptions near the end of life were important to their wellbeing in ways that weren't only for nurses, chaplains, and social workers to consider?

What would medical care look like if every doctor took a moment to listen?

The undertaking starts-

He started gathering and recording testimony provided directly by those who were dying when he saw dying patients reaching out to their loved ones, many of whom they had not seen, touched, or heard in decades. He and his research group interviewed 1,400 patients and their families about their end-of-life experiences over the period of ten years.

He was shocked by what he found. No matter their age, background, or profession, more than 80% of his patients reported end-of-life experiences that seemed to involve more than just weird dreams. These were striking, profound, and transformational. And they were always more common close to death.

They included images of long-lost parents, grandparents, and relatives, as well as the reappearance of deceased pets to console their former owners. They dealt with the restoration of bonds, the rebirth of love, and the accomplishment of forgiveness. They frequently gave comfort, encouragement, acceptance, and calm.

Achieving one's weaving goals-

I was occupied cleaning the horse stall. We frequently talked about Dr. Kerr's research on the dreams and visions of his dying patients because the stables were on his property. He discussed the subject of his TEDx Talk with me as well as the book he was writing.

The research and work of this doctor and scientist impacted me deeply. I offered to assist him when he mentioned that he was having trouble writing. He first hesitance. I was an English professor who was most known for dissecting other people's stories rather than creating my own. His agency was worried that I wouldn't be able to write in a way that the general public could understand because academics aren't exactly known for doing that. The rest is history because I persisted.

To put a human face on the statistical information that had previously been published in medical publications, I was tasked with adding more humanity to the astounding medical intervention that this scientific research represented.

The heartfelt accounts of Dr. Kerr's interactions with his patients and their families supported Michel de Montaigne's dictum that "he who should educate men to die would at the same time teach them to live.

I read about Robert, who was losing Barbara after 60 years of marriage and was struggling with contradictory emotions of guilt, hopelessness, and faith. One day, during a brief period of lucid dreaming that mirrored Mary's experience years previously, he unexplainably saw her reaching for the baby son they had lost decades earlier. Robert was surprised by his wife's serene expression and contented grin. Their perception of the dying process was altered by that instant of absolute oneness. Robert found some peace in the middle of his irreparable loss by witnessing Barbara being soothed as she lived her death as a moment of love reclaimed.

For the elderly couples Dr. Kerr looked after, the idea of being split apart by death after a lifetime of marriage was simply unimaginable. Joan's recurrent dreams and visions assisted in healing the severe wound caused by the death of her spouse several months previously. She would scream for him at night and gesture toward his presence throughout the day, even in her most vivid and eloquent times. These incidents gave her daughter Lisa the confidence that her parents' love was strong. The pre-death dreams and images of her mother helped Lisa on her own path to acceptance, which is a crucial part of grieving.

Children frequently see their cherished, passed-away pets as they approach death. A bone-based cancer patient at the age of thirteen named Jessica began to get glimpses of her former dog, Shadow. She felt at ease with him there. She assured Dr. Kerr during one of his final visits, "I will be OK.

Not alone but also remote-

Changes to the healthcare system are challenging. Dr. Kerr nevertheless desires to assist patients and their loved ones in reclaiming the dying process from a professional perspective to one that is valued as a rich and singular human experience.

The hole that could otherwise be left by the uncertainty and terror that death arouses is filled by pre-death dreams and visions. They aid in the reunion of the dying with the people they had loved and lost, as well as those who had supported, comforted, and confirmed them. They restore dignity, treat old wounds, and recover affection. Understanding this paradoxical fact aids the bereaved in overcoming their grief.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals and nursing homes are still prohibited from receiving visitors. Knowing that the terminally ill rarely mention being alone may be helpful. They talk about being cherished and pieced back together.