04/03/2026
The Exhale
It begins long before the last breath
Long before the room goes still
It starts in that first moment
when a diagnosis enters the air
and something inside you
quietly tightens.
From there, the waiting starts
You hold your breath without meaning to
through each update
each slow change
each “let’s see what tomorrow brings”
You learn the landscape of decline
by instinct
listening for shifts no one else hears
showing up again and again
because love holds you in place.
Caring for someone who is dying
creates its own rhythm
a steady, quiet bracing
for whatever comes next
It reshapes your days
your nights
your lungs
You try to stay ready
even when ready isn’t possible.
And then their last breath comes
Soft
Final
Not dramatic, just true.
But the breath that breaks you
isn’t theirs
It’s yours
That long, trembling exhale
you didn’t know you were holding
A release wrapped in relief
in grief
in the sharp ache
of a chapter closing.
We think the final breath
belongs to the dying.
But the truth is
the real ending is ours
the exhale that follows
the one that carries
the weight, the love, the loss
and the letting go.
That exhale…
our exhale
that’s the moment
it all becomes real.
xo
Gabby
You can find this poem here:
https://www.thehospiceheart.net/post/the-exhale
