 | I am a Palliative Care Volunteer in the hospital in a small town just eight minutes from home. I have enjoyed volunteering for the past two years and my favorite time is when I get to sit and listen to the patients and families as they reflect on their lives so openly. I respect and appreciate the trust and love that the patients and their families show. |
One morning I stepped off the hospital elevator onto the floor and I could feel the very thick energy of sadness, despair, guilt and loneliness all in one big package.
I walked down the hall (where there was no one to be found) allowing myself to be guided to where this one big source of emotions was coming from. As I came to the last room, there were two very neatly made beds divided by one long curtain, which was pulled so that from first glance one would say that nobody was in the room. But I knew what I felt and there was no denying that someone was in there somewhere.
So I moved just a few feet beyond the curtain where I could see a big window, small bureau and a pair of tiny feet tucked away under the back corner of the curtain. One step further and there was a tiny elderly lady sitting in a big chair, her head hung deep down towards her chest and her body very limp. I waited for her to feel that I was there and eventually her tiny face very slowly looked over to my direction – a very lost saddened expression. With no change of expression she slowly dropped her face back into her chest.
I tenderly walked over to sit beside her on the bed. She did not move, so I quietly waited. Then I placed my hand on hers and asked what she was thinking. I waited, then in a weak voice she said “About my friends”. I asked how many friends and she said “Three”. I said “Three?” and she shared “Yes, three women I used to have coffee with every morning.” I asked her if she sees them at all now and she said “No, because of what I told them, I have not seen them for a very long time.” I asked her if she told them the truth. With that she looked right up at me and said “No”.
I sensed that she was feeling that she would not get to share with them what she was feeling about losing them the way she did. I shared with her that she can sit and talk to the three women without them being here physically and express her truth to them and that they would energetically feel her. At first there was no reply, she sat there with her head down for quite sometime. I just sat there holding her hand.
After awhile I could feel the energy shift in the room, I could feel her body become lighter and then she ever so gently raised her head, looked into my eyes and smiled as if she had received the best gift ever. She said in a clear voice “Thank You”.
At that point a cheery nurse came into the room to tend to this beautiful woman and I smiled back and left the room. My service was no longer needed.
Lynda M., Nova Scotia
I walked down the hall (where there was no one to be found) allowing myself to be guided to where this one big source of emotions was coming from. As I came to the last room, there were two very neatly made beds divided by one long curtain, which was pulled so that from first glance one would say that nobody was in the room. But I knew what I felt and there was no denying that someone was in there somewhere.
So I moved just a few feet beyond the curtain where I could see a big window, small bureau and a pair of tiny feet tucked away under the back corner of the curtain. One step further and there was a tiny elderly lady sitting in a big chair, her head hung deep down towards her chest and her body very limp. I waited for her to feel that I was there and eventually her tiny face very slowly looked over to my direction – a very lost saddened expression. With no change of expression she slowly dropped her face back into her chest.
I tenderly walked over to sit beside her on the bed. She did not move, so I quietly waited. Then I placed my hand on hers and asked what she was thinking. I waited, then in a weak voice she said “About my friends”. I asked how many friends and she said “Three”. I said “Three?” and she shared “Yes, three women I used to have coffee with every morning.” I asked her if she sees them at all now and she said “No, because of what I told them, I have not seen them for a very long time.” I asked her if she told them the truth. With that she looked right up at me and said “No”.
I sensed that she was feeling that she would not get to share with them what she was feeling about losing them the way she did. I shared with her that she can sit and talk to the three women without them being here physically and express her truth to them and that they would energetically feel her. At first there was no reply, she sat there with her head down for quite sometime. I just sat there holding her hand.
After awhile I could feel the energy shift in the room, I could feel her body become lighter and then she ever so gently raised her head, looked into my eyes and smiled as if she had received the best gift ever. She said in a clear voice “Thank You”.
At that point a cheery nurse came into the room to tend to this beautiful woman and I smiled back and left the room. My service was no longer needed.
Lynda M., Nova Scotia
