ONE FINAL ADVENTURE - On the End of Life and What We Make of It

Evening after evening, a son sits by his dying mother’s side, reading aloud the letters of her rich and vibrant life. In those moments, they both forget her fading strength. "I don’t want to live anymore," his mother had said weeks earlier. With no hope of recovery and the loss of her independence looming, she was ready to let go.

Eighteen months prior, Lothar Frenz had moved his mother to a high-quality care facility in Hamburg to be near him. The transition left a deep impression: "You two still want something together," someone remarked - marking the beginning of what his mother called their "final adventure." Lothar Frenz recounts this journey: how to make decisions together, even concerning the end of medical treatment; how he prepared for the loss he had feared for so long; and how the saddest time of his life simultaneously became one of the most beautiful. As his mother passes away in his arms, he is surprised by his own sense of serenity. With immense warmth and devotion, Frenz shows how much life can be found in the act of dying. He poses a vital question: Why do we not prepare ourselves better for the end of life and give it the attention it truly deserves?