# Help! What to talk about to someone dying of cancer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-to-talk-about-to-someone-dying-of-cancer/671749 "2013-10-20T20:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-to-talk-about-to-someone-dying-of-cancer/671749/21 "2013-10-22T16:24:47Z")
My mama couldn’t talk much at the end, and there was so much water under the bridge that I didn’t know what to say, but I held her hand and looked into her eyes and she looked into mine and there was some healing there. I think she was happy to have me there. other times I have always let them guide the conversation. If the conversation lags, I don’t hesitate to gently introduce some new topic of conversation about my own life, and let them decide whether to continue it or not. Sometimes they liked talking to me about other things. When they didn’t, they steered the conversation back to where they wanted, and I let them. Be a good listener. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-to-talk-about-to-someone-dying-of-cancer/671749/22 "2013-10-22T18:30:35Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > I was relieved not to see any Jesus photos on the walls, but I let my guard down too soon. As soon as I got off the elevator I was confronted by a larger-than-life supercreepy image of him sticking his fingers in some guy’s ears. Ah yes- Leonardo’s _The Wet Willie_. A classic of the genre. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-to-talk-about-to-someone-dying-of-cancer/671749.md?page=1)