Absence

In her mother’s final hours, Cagney witnessed something both astonishing and deeply moving—a sudden return to clarity and self, a brief but vivid moment of lucidity and connection. This experience, often called terminal lucidity, is when someone who has seemed lost or distant regains sharpness of mind, sometimes accompanied by a serene or even joyful spirit. For Cagney, this fleeting glimpse of her mother’s true self was a powerful, intimate reminder of the transcendent nature of love and the mysteries of being.