ABSTRACT
Many of the patients the author had visited begin to detach from the world as they prepare to die. They let go of the world by withdrawing from life. They become introverted and reserved and prefer solitude and quiet during their final days. One of the author's patients was an eighty-four-year-old Caucasian male with lung cancer, emphysema, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. Because the cancer was inoperable, Mr. Wilson decided to forgo chemotherapy in favor of hospice care. The patient needed an audience for his stories. Everyone else had already heard his stories many times, but the author was a fresh face, willing to listen. What the author's son remembers about visiting the patient was going to Piggly Wiggly, a grocery store. What Mr. Wilson liked the most about Piggly Wiggly was its service.
