When you are standing alone in the hospital waiting room and don’t know what to do next, you can call me.

I remember when my mom was dying and I was sitting vigil with her in the hospital on the last day of her life. My brother, who I was close to, said to me, “There really ought to be someone who can help people with this.” And what he meant by “this”, it was the dying process. I said to him, “This is what I do, I am a hospice volunteer.” My brother knew me very well and knew that I worked with the dying, but he couldn’t imagine what that meant. And if he couldn’t imagine what a hospice worker does, then a lot of people may be confused or unsure.

But it is not just hospice that people have questions about. There are so many new things to deal with when a loved one is sick. There are specialists who can help you make your home safer for the patient, help you with applying for disability benefits or help you make decisions about both the short and long term plans.

I get called by so many people, whether it is for help during the dying process, help with figuring out what to decide when the patient can’t speak for themselves anymore or how to deal with a conflict in the hospital. You aren’t alone. I can help you when you are standing in the hospital waiting room asking yourself, “Am I doing the right thing? What do I do next?” You can run it by me and I will walk you through it.

Have a kind and respectful day.