What is it like to live to a ripe old age? What is it like to have to look after oneself in later life, or to be cared for by others? As life expectancy in the Western world continues to grow, and as people survive longer periods of old age, these qu... Read more

What is it like to live to a ripe old age? What is it like to have to look after oneself in later life, or to be cared for by others? As life expectancy in the Western world continues to grow, and as people survive longer periods of old age, these questions arise on a daily basis. With great honesty yet sensitivity, the author describes, in poetically moving words and pharse, the experiences of an old person at the boundary of life. Shortly after the death of her almost 90-year-old mother, Almut Bockemühl pauses to contemplate the four years of intensive care that she devoted to her. What happened during this period of sacrifice to a dying person? Taking a thoughtful, meditative approach, she describes invaluable experiences, concluding that old age, death, and dying have the possibility of touching the highest realms of human knowledge and perception. Less