Hospice

Happy New Year

It is a beautiful snowy, cold day in Ohio. Last night we had a white out and temperatures dropped to 8 degrees. The sun is now shining....

Life on the farm continues to be good - recent days have been spent in the greenhouse seeding a variety of flowers for spring and tending to Easter lilies. I also did a little house keeping and cleaned and painted the farm garage kitchen.

My post today will take a different path - I have been a Hospice companion volunteer for 3 years. Each month I spend one day at Hospice House visiting patients and their families. Hospice House is a 16 room "home" complete with library, kitchen, fireplaces, play area and beautiful gardens. Some patients compare it to staying in a five star hotel with all the comforts. It is a peaceful place for respite care or to spend your final days.

In addition to my monthly visits to Hospice I have a patient at a skilled nursing home. My first friend Alma threw me out of her room on the first visit!! It took a few visits to convince her I was harmless and we became friends. Our friendship lasted 6 months until she died one Saturday morning. Fortunatley I live close to the nursing home and was able to spend a few mintues with her before her departure. Over time I have met new patients and their families but our time together was very short. Of course this is the nature of Hospice - being present to someone in their final days. In March 2011, June and I began a friendship that lasted 10 months. June and I visited several times a week, in the beginning we had great conversations about her life and all that she loved to do. We would go outside to sit in the sun and watch the birds or look at the flowers. As time went on her desire to be outside faded and we spent time watching the world from her window. Our conversations became fewer with me talking and June listening. Many times we just sat in silence holding hands.

On January 13 as I was driving to the farm I received a call that June had passed away in her sleep. I had been with her two days prior and sat with her while she napped. Did the call take me by surprise? No but there was still that moment that can't quite be put into words. When I arrived at the farm I shared the news with the farm crew and cried. I know that the crew is my community when I can be comfortable enough to share and cry.

"In being with dying, we arrive at a natural crucible of what it means to love and be loved. And we can ask ourselves this: Knowing that death is inevitable, what is most precious today?"

Roshi Joan Halifax.

Blessings

Beth