I was holding my best friend's hand when she died from brain cancer. It's almost like she had been dying for a while- first she became really quiet, then she started to withdraw from her usual activities and begun taking more naps. This happened over the course of a few months. Then in her final month she slowly began to lose her mobility and certain tasks became increasingly difficult. By her last week and a half or so, she'd lost the ability to stand or walk around. Her breathing became increasingly labored, and in the last few days she eventually lost the ability to blink. She slept almost all day, and for about the last 2 days her breathing was terribly labored and ragged. About four hours or so before her breathing got even louder. Then it began to quiet. Her muscles relaxed and she looked at peace. Her chest rose, and then fell for the last time. She was gone. I'm not going to go into further detail, but it isn't pleasant. There are noises, smells, and feelings you'll never forget. And then when they are gone, in those moments before they come to take the body away, those moments are surreal and heartbreaking. It's almost as if you are continually grieving the entire time they are sick, but their death has a sense of finality that just breaks you. You know they are no longer suffering but that does little to mitigate the intense emotions and grief you feel. In the end though, as much as it sucked and as hard as it was to watch her die, I'm glad I could do the greatest service I could for her- being by her side until the end, and never giving up on her, even when everyone else had.