LibraryScenariosWhen a dying person asks for promises you cannot keep
Scenario

When a dying person asks for promises you cannot keep

My mother-in-law is dying and keeps asking me to promise I will take care of her son after she is gone and I do not know how to tell her our marriage is falling apart.

Mira
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

The dying seek assurance that their leaving will not destroy what they most cherish, but love offers no such guarantees.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Anticipatory grief — losing someone before they die?”

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.