Closeness, vulnerability, illness,  can evoke common fears: 

• The fear of exposure, of being discovered as a fraud, fake, failure, someone  who has been able to masquerade successes.
• The fear of abandonment, of discovering no one stayed or remained faithful to friendships, even to the continued enjoyment of familial connections.
• The fear of aloneness, of discovering there is no-one in your circle, your corner, there is no-one on your team. 
• The fear of total dependence, of discovering you are in the hands of strangers, helpers or nurses who talk loudly, speak in commands, regard you as overly needy, a person without a story and without a rich history. 
• The fear of having unfinished business, of having no time or opportunity to find or establish completion, to close the circle, to express regrets, to ask for forgiveness. 
• The fear of being surrounded by people for whom being right, being correct trumps and semblance of mercy. 

Love drives fear. Fear drives out love. May you and I, by grace alone, be the antidote to men and women who harbor such fears.