It was an early Saturday morning

at Ames Family Hospice House

an Inpatient Unit for

Hospice   of   Western   Reserve;

I was meeting a group of under graduate students from

Case Western Reserve University

to talk with them about

End of Life Issues

Death/Dying

and what Hospice means

and could mean for them in their life times.

It’s a tour I have conducted with Dr. Maryjo Prince-Paul,

their Professor for the last three years,

an excellent Educator/Informer

A former Certified Hospice Nurse

and an even better Friend.        .         .

I had just began talking with the students

having asking them to tell me

Their names

Their majors

Their Reason for taking this class;

Dr Prince-Paul asked me to share a few

Hospice Stories

of which I have a Memory Field of them:

Sad

Happy

Near-death experiences

Spiritual and Emotional

and all of the Psycho-Social dynamics

intermeshed into the fabric of these

death and dying issues.          .          .

I noticed as I was talking to these students

before the tour of the facility

a man walked into the back of the community living room

we had gathered

and sat, drinking his coffee;

THEN IT HAPPENED.          .          .

I asked the students if they had any questions

and Dr. Prince-Paul if she had any further comments

before we began the tour

and this brother of a patient at the inpatient Unit

stood with his hand raised and asked if he could make a comment;

Out all the tours and talks I had ever presented since beginning my

Hospice career in 1994,

this had never happened.          .            .

He began with:

“LISTEN   TO   WHAT   THIS   MAN   IS   TELLING   YOU”

He continued by stating that he has seen death up close and personal

having served three tours in Vietnam

but seeing his younger brother dying of brain cancer

was an indescribable tour he’d never thought he’d have to journey;

he went on the praise

without urging/prompting

what an unbelievable healing experience this had been for he

and his other family members

who no longer could effectively take care of his brother

like the inpatient unit was now doing;

most valuably allowing them to be

FAMILY MEMBERS

to their brother, the patient

instead of Caregivers.

After speaking for nearly ten minutes

of which he had a very engaged and captive audience,

Dr Prince-Paul asked him his name:

“J o h n”

He apologized for  ‘butting’  in;

but we thanked him for

TEACHING   US   ALL

what a lecture

what a book

what a class

what a measly tour

could never promise

or deliver:

AUTHENTIC,     HONEST,     HEARTFELT,    MEANINGFUL

T E S T I M O N Y

J o h n

spoke from his heart

and we each heard with ours.        .        .

I couldn’t have hit a secret remote control button

that could have made it any more timely;

that could have made it any more significant.          .          .

My take away

no doubt was different than the students

that gathered together on that early Saturday morning.             .           .

As a veteran hospice employee

he taught me out of our vast resources

and our willingness to use and

our expertise to implement them

It’s not that it’s NOT

Music Therapy

It’s not that it’s NOT

Art Therapy

It’s not that it’s NOT

Our Particular Sounds

It’s not that it’s not our Surroundings and Perspectives

And not even so much as the Story

that needs Sharing

still untold/unwritten

So much as a Willingness

to give that VOICE

An open Ear

A       P L A T F O R M.          .          .

To be A Caring Catalyst

is  to  be  the  Hearer  of  THAT  Story

Are  you  THAT  Person?

I told dozens of stories

that morning

but it’s the one that I heard

(and now re-tell)

that was experienced 

the most.          .          .

“You’re young,” John told the group.

“You   have   your   whole   lives   in   front   of   you,” he  continued; “that   you are   here   this   morning   to   learn;  that   you’re   here   to   do   something great   with   your   lives   for   others   is   good.”

Thank you,

 Professor John

for writing on a previously blank page of our books

that which will never be blank again;

nor will the pages we now will write following.        .        .

Amazing, isn’t it?

.          .          .There’s one thing to Seeing a Wave;

.          .          .There’s another thing to Catching a Wave;

.          .          .There’s another thing to Being a Wave;

.          .          .There’s another thing to SHARING  A  WAVE;

Just like it’s one thing to impact a person

and quite another to

EXPERIENCE  THE  INFLUENCE.         .         .

Strive to do both.          .          .

(often)

A Guest Lecturer

showed me it could be done

and in the process,

uncovered an UN-TRUTH:

WHEN   YOU   HELP   ANOTHER, YOU   HELP   YOURSELF

L               I               E !

When you help another,

You help even many more than

          T   H  A  T        O T H E R; 

with all of the RIPPLES  and WAVES their Shores touch;

And all the Waves and Ripples of Shores

EMANATING   FROM   YOUR’S.          .          .

It’s an never-ending TSUNAMI

of Unbelievable Kindness.          .          .

G E T     S O A K E D