It started with a team meeting to discuss plans of care for our hospice patients, just like we do - every two weeks.
I found myself with an hour to spare before my next visit, so I made an impromptu visit to a friend and recent widow. She served me lunch and wondered how I do my job. She encouraged me to use the bathroom before I left for my next visit, not to speed, and sent me with cookies to go. I marveled at how she was caring for me while learning how to get through a day in her new life.
Next, a scheduled visit to a beautiful home in the country. (I only sped a little.) Bath and lunch were finished just in time for a living room concert for mother and daughter. Conversation about how glad they are to be together in their home, and not separated because of COVID visiting restrictions was a welcome topic between songs.
This, on the heels of singing Christmas-in-July carols in the rain yesterday with some of my coworkers and volunteers at a couple of nursing facilities - because the residents aren’t sitting in their living rooms with someone they love, and because we can.
Got a call on the way home from a relative of one of our patients who recently passed away. She taught me a lot about faith and perseverance, and a little secret about making a wish when you see a red bird, and stamping it onto your hand before the red bird flew away - just like her Mom taught her. I only taught her how to make a paper flower. Anyway...
They were cleaning out her room and wanted to donate some things, so I stopped by to pick them up. I reclaimed the hummingbird feeder I bought for her and the plant stand she no longer needed. No doubt they will find another hook to hang on and a plant to hold. They will continue to do their part in bringing the little bit of joy they’re able, which reminds me all of the people I have the privilege of working with and the people that we serve— and know, too, so will we.
