Each of You Made a Difference

Dear Hospice Staff,
 
A heartfelt thanks goes out from the [family name withheld] to my father’s hospice medical team, Eileen, and the many skilled triage nurses among them Valentina and Alice Stone who answered our questions and provided guidance throughout the many months of our father’s hospice care. Autumn, his Social Worker, had an easygoing manner and common sense approach to life, which seemed to fit well with our father’s. Elizabeth Phelps, his spiritual counselor, provided him great solace. Her visits seemed to lighten his burden. He felt understood and free to bring up anything weighing on his mind. Cindy Powers provided great spiritual support. Each time she came to pray with my father, a sacred space was created through her great devotion.
 
A very special thanks to Diana, his regular bather. It takes a very special person to provide personal care to a very private and independent person like my father and to offer it with compassion and respect so that his reticence gave way to acceptance and our anxieties were eased as we felt his needs were more than met; he was well cared for. There were other substitute bathers whose names I don’t know; they deserve special thanks too. They took over with great skill and knew how to put him at ease. Then there were the great volunteers who gave my father the best haircuts ever and helped him to embrace his cute Mohawk. My father was very particular so it should be taken as high praise that he was greatly impressed with the quality and care given with each haircut he received. But it was far more than just the haircut, I was there for his last haircut and when he gave thanks I saw that there were tears of gratitude welling in his eyes. He was greatly moved and so were we. As his daughter, it was heartwarming to hear from so many of you that you greatly enjoyed tending to my father and appreciated his was of being, the calmness he exuded and his sense of humor.
 
Finally, I want to acknowledge the phone staff. Whenever I phoned Hospice there was always someone there that seemed to care. I may have spoken with some of you only briefly; however, each of you made a difference as a warm and caring voice goes a long way.
 
In Gratitude,
 
[name withheld]