" And soon a cold realization hit me: The time for giving up hope and
letting go was now. It would be my parting gift to her. And as I cried
into Mom’s ear and held her hand, and told her it was okay to let go, that I’d be fine, I felt her chest rise one last time. There was no long
continuous beep like you see in the movies. Just a deafening silence
and my echo of good-bye skipping down the side of her ear like a coin
down a deep well. "
― John von Sothen , Monsieur Mediocre: One American Learns the High Art of Being Everyday French