A more serious posting

It looks like Thursday was my last day of staying with my neighbor who has cancer. She and her family made the decision before I came on that day that she would move to the Hospice facility. I helped her get ready to leave. For some reason no family member was there. I helped her pack and answered questions for the ambulance drivers who came to take her. It may have been more emotional for me than for her. She has had time to come to accept what is happening. I just kept thinking "she is never going to return to the home she has lived in for 50 years." This whole experience is one for which I had no training. But I went in to it hoping to help make life a bit better for the lady and her family and to have it be a learning experience for me. Death was discussed in a matter of fact manner. Maybe tears were shed over the last several months, when I was not involved. It has been helpful to talk about it with my next door neighbor who recruited me. But she told me she has been working as an RN for 30 years and has never been involved in this type of situation either, so it was new for her too. It has made me pause and think about life, death and to be grateful for my health.