Today, I had to go to the Hospice House to fix a printer for one of our employees. I had to say that I was impressed with the facility, which was so NOT like a nursing home environment.
Everything was new and clean. Each room had a handmade quilt on the bed, furnished by a local quilting society.
The gathering area had an aviary with about 10 parakeets in it. There were flowers nicely arranged, all over the place. The person who took me to Hospice House said that families who have a family member die there, send a funeral arrangement to the House. The volunteers there rearrange the flowers to look less funeral-like, because in that sort of environment, who needs something around reminding them the end is near?
Every Monday, someone comes in and bakes enough cookies for the week. Every Tuesday, a beautician volunteers to do the patients’ hair, which cheers the patients up quite a bit, I’m told.
I saw a few of the people. They looked very ill… frail, thin, and weak. There were only a few who were up watching tv in their rooms or laying there in various stages of terminal illness. It was very quiet, except for the chattering of the birds.
The person who took me there said that many families appreciate the personal nature of the House, and even comment that their loved one’s death was “peaceful”.
I am not sure how I feel about death. Part of me thinks that “this is it”; part of me hopes there is much more.
胭脂扣电影 