She had no one with whom to share her fears and her pain. She did not
want to burden her dying mother any more than was absolutely necessary. So
Elizabeth kept her despair inside, and each day felt increasingly heavy.
“I will miss you so much. ... I love you,” her mother told her. “The most
difficult part is leaving you. I'm not afraid of dying. I'm not afraid of what
awaits me. I just don't want to leave you yet.”
As she grew weaker and weaker, her mother's resolve to stay longer
gradually diminished. Death would be a welcome relief from the debility and
the pain. Her last day arrived.