It's to the best of our knowledge. I'm Anne Strange Champs. Today, the last moment. Part three of our series on death.

What happens when we die? When it's time to let go, take that last breath. It's so hard to imagine.

As long as we're sitting here, breathing in and out,

aware of everything around us, it's almost incomprehensible. As far as we know, we're the only creatures on the planet who have to go through our whole lives knowing there's a deadline.

Mostly we try not to think about it, but maybe if we got closer to death, it wouldn't be so scary.

I was very uncomfortable with death for most of my life.

I grew up across the street from a cemetery and was terrified of death.

If anyone was aging, ill, dying, I went the other way.

I had many friends that were diagnosed with serious illnesses. I hate to admit it now, but I was

unable to be with them. Karen Ruppen was like a lot of us, scared of death and dying, uncomfortable even talking about it.

But then something happened.

She got a job at the one place she couldn't possibly avoid death, hospice.

I can't recall the first death that I witnessed, but it was an elderly woman, and she was non-responsive,

and it was a very quiet, peaceful death. I mean, she, her breathing became a little irregular,

and I sat next to her, breathing with her, and holding her hand. And after one final exhale,

that she didn't have another inhalation. And it was very quiet and very peaceful. And how did that

affect you? I think I was amazed that the way that people die is just such a mystery. There's life there,

and then there's something so different. It's hard to talk about. I think you have to be there

and witness the before, during, and after.

How after someone takes their last breath, the physical body is still there, but there's something else that isn't,

at least not in the same realm that it was just moments before. Just moments before,

one inhalation before. Isn't that terrifying? It isn't terrifying to me anymore. By now, Karen has

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