Maria Pacelli remembers sitting at her father’s bedside as he took his final breaths. She was in college at the time and had, coincidentally, been taking courses on death and loss.
She and her brothers held a vigil for the final four days before her father’s death and witnessed his last moments together.
“As heartbreaking as it was, and believe me, I wailed when my father left us, it was also stunning and comforting,” she said. “Sacred is the only word I have for it.”…