Dead love lips

Finding my grandmothers still warm, dead body…..and following the crisis workers voice filling the room through the phone, directing me to place my mouth over her dead lips to start artificial respiration. Her toothless, sunken mouth was disgusting to me but it was pure love that kept my own mouth moving toward hers. I was only seconds away from feeling the meeting of our lips when I felt the strong hand of a peace officer on my shoulder pulling me back…her voice saying “let me take care of that.” It was only my mind, directed and fueled by a pure love that got me that close in the first place. 🙏

— Echo