"Love is watching someone die"

I'm at a loss for words to describe the emotion and overwhelming sense of helplessness I feel at the moment. An uncle near and dear to me is in the hospital fighting the battle of his life, and all I can do is watch as he slips from us. A set of lyrics from a song written by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie come to mind:

'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news
And then the nurse comes round and everyone will lift their heads
But I'm thinking of what Sarah said that "Love is watching someone die"

That last phrase has never rung more true than these last two nights. When I first encountered these lyrics over a decade ago, I glossed over them in my youthful naiveté, failing to recognize their meaning as they related to those around me. But as I've gotten older, I've witnessed first hand the fragility of our mortal shells, and the poignancy of the line, "Love is watching someone die." And the blunt truth of that statement sucks.

Go hug the ones you love. Now.