A piece on Medium.com shows how boundaries, such as the 140-character limit of a tweet, can provide stability and comfort during times of uncertainty. Writer Amber Adrian describes how Twitter's forum provided a structure for the expansive emotions she experienced as her father lay dying as Thanksgiving 2012 approached. On the microblogging service, she was also able to record in vivid detail what her family experienced – from the mundane to the morbid, comical, sweet and tragic final moments, stretched out across a series of tweets – and receive support from friends and family who shared memories of her dad.
Tweets from the piece, which Medium notes is a five-minute read:
Medical directive overturned by unanimous family consent. Morphine at the ready. All right, Great Beyond. Let’s get this party started.
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Now that the drugs have stopped and people aren’t prodding him every hour, Dad’s sense of humor is coming back. His puns: as bad as ever.
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My one rant: Absurd that we have the death penalty but we can’t help along someone we love who desperately wants out of a broken body.
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Dad always made the Thanksgiving turkey. Brined in booze and stuffed with cornbread and fresh herbs. I never got the recipe. Damn it.
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“I’m excited for you, Dad. You’re about to go on an adventure.” Boom. My brother nails it.
Previously: The role of social media in end-of-life conversations and Grieving on Facebook: A personal story
