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Hospice Volunteer Work: The Tapestry of Time

Contributed by Scott Fletcher, Community Healthcare of Texas Volunteer

Perhaps one of the greatest experiences I have discovered in the time I devote to the community is the work I do for hospice as a volunteer. And simply put, my role is to be a friend. In a world with all that keeps us busy, including the many moments we often wish we could have appreciated more, the time I share with a hospice patient is when time seems to stop. Here, they are on a path towards the end of life. I also stand beside the family: sons, daughters, spouses, and all the friends and loved ones who are with them physically or in spirit, both near and far.

The experiences of what I do form a tapestry in the continuum of time. There was a patient who was a big baseball fan. We smiled and compared stories from a good book about baseball and its many legends; such as Yogi Barra, Joe DiMaggio, and Pete Rose.

My ninety-year-old patient became a friend quickly when I discovered her love for gardening as she raised five children. I asked her about grandchildren, and she shrugged when she said, “So many I lost count!”  I will never forget the way her eyes danced as we flipped through the pages of a magazine featuring English gardens. One moment, when I was reading an article to her, she reached over to place her hand over mine. Her gratitude came from a deep well, known as her heart.

I am not sure I can fully describe this work. But there seems to be a great privilege in standing with these people in their last moments on earth. I believe with all the experiences they found in their days, including the joys, the tears, the love, the gift of the rising sun and the moon greeting them at night, that they said at one point something very simple to life: “Thank you.”

If you’d like to join the Community Healthcare of Texas volunteer team at any of our locations throughout North Central Texas, visit https://www.chot.org/volunteer/.

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