March 27

Greetings to all! It has been quite some time since I have written here. Let me catch you up a bit!

Hospice work still inspires me and is life-giving to me. I always have experiences that remind me of the fragility of life but yet the power and strength that are available.

I spent time recently with a momma that was watching her 45 year old son die. She had lost a son at the age of two from illness and her only other child was now in front of her taking his last breaths. He had been a drug addict most of his life and here was a momma that had stood beside him. Many of her friends and many in her family thought she was foolish to keep allowing him to be supported by her, financially and emotionally. I don't have kids and I don't know what that feels like but I do know that this woman was heart broken by the challenges that he had in his life. He fought demons all of his life after he was the one that found his little brother, age 2, dead.

She sobbed as he took his last breath. I know that for me, as the chaplain, I don't have to make any judgments on her actions, the actions of the ones who die, but I can just be there with them as they mourn their losses.

Yesterday I sat with a family who were actually afraid of what they were seeing. Their mother was crying out, saying "help me." She was not responsive in any way to stimulation...but yet she cried out. This is a woman who had told me she was ready to die and wanted to die...she had enough of the illness. So as she was transitioning to the next life, I wondered if she was crying out to someone she was seeing on the other side of this life and wanted help to take the final steps. Who knows but I believe that God was with her and that was the best help she was going to find.

My brother Terry, his wife Beth, and my nephew Trent visited during spring break. How fun to have them here in Florida. Many fun things - beach, shopping, Museum of Science and Industry (although not near as nice as Chicago's!) Disney, basketball, ice cream, cooking out on the grill, 80+ degree weather, sun every day, sitting outside at restaurants, and watching a 9 year old have fun. All of that was...priceless.

So life continues to be good - what is not to like? great weather, love my work, and having visitors from Indiana. It is all good. Blessings to you all that read. :)