NPR host Scott Simon tweeted his mother’s final moments, posting intimate and moving messages from the Chicago hospital room where she died from cancer last night.
Simon, the host of the National Public Radio show “Weekend Edition,” created a wave of good wishes and compassion across Twitter, as he chronicled Patricia Lyons Simon Newman’s final days with 1.2 million followers.
Some of the messages were brief, others were humorous. Mostly, they were filled with the love a son has for his dying mother.
“I am getting a life’s lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU. We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?” he tweeted on Friday.
About 4.27 p.m. he tweeted that her heart rate was dropping.
And 40 minutes later she was gone. As Simon said: “The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage.”
Some followers disagreed with Simon’s decision to broadcast his mother’s death.
“Some things are best left untweeted. I love Scott Simon but I disagree with him tweeting during his mother’s death,” one user said.
Asked on the “Today” show why he would want to share such a personal moment with the rest of the world, Simon said, “Because I think my mother has a lot to say to a lot of people and I’m not embarrassed to share it.”
My mother & I just sang Que Sera Sera 3 times. God bless you Doris Day for giving us such a great theme song.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
Mother & I just finished a duet of We'll Meet Again. Every word has meaning. Nurse looks in, asks, "Do you take requests?"
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
Mother: "I don't know why this is going on so long. I'm late for everything I guess."
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
I don't know how we'll get through these next few days. And, I don't want them to end.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
I love holding my mother's hand. Haven't held it like this since I was 9. Why did I stop? I thought it unmanly? What crap.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
In middle of nights like this, my knees shake as if there's an earthquake. I hold my mother's arm for strength–still.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
Heart rate dropping. Heart dropping.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 29, 2013
The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 30, 2013