It has been awhile since my last post. I talk all day so by the time I get home, I do not have so many words. But certainly, much happens. A few hospice stories, recently I had a patient that was with us for a couple of weeks. She was such fun to talk with as she had a great sense of humor. Each time I would visit, she would want me to pray with her and so I would. One morning I went to her room and she had really declined so I just thought I would say a prayer. As I began, her eyes opened and she said, "Did I die?" She did die the next day but what a gift she was.

Another patient kept shaking hands with the dead. She was very imminent but was still really verbal. She told me that she could see the light and that she needed sunglasses. And she mentioned that the people on her right, she knew, and the people on her left - well, she did not know any of them! Her niece was there watching this with me and fortunately, the niece was very comfortable with what she called, her explanation of the afterlife. Of course, I do not know how that works any more than anyone else, but it is amazing to see these kinds of things over and over. You really cannot work in hospice without believing that there is something sacred at the end of our earthly life.

I got a couple of letters recently from a friend that I adore. He is trying to bring back the art of letter writing - I thought that was a good idea. The ease of the internet makes notes and blogs and facebook seem like the best way to communicate, but I think letter writing is a great old tradition. Perhaps I'll start writing letters. Well, perhaps I'll start to think that it would be a fun idea.

We do Thoughts for the Day each day at the hospice house for the staff. They cover a broad range of thoughts but today's was from my favorite Disney character, Winnie the Pooh.

"If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”

A more scholarly version of that message might be from an Ancient Greek Philosopher,

"be kind, for everyone is fighting a difficult battle."

Either way, it is a message to remember.