Look at this face. If you think hospice patients and their caregivers are never this happy, you don’t know jack about hospice care. Whenever I tell people I’m a hospice volunteer, they usually respond with strong empathy for the difficult and sad work I must be doing. They also imply that I'm close to sainthood for accepting such depressing assignments. This always amuses me because I don’t find hospice volunteering difficult or sad. In fact, most days are pretty upbeat with challenges that are usually interesting. True service is always win-win. I’m a regular person doing what millions of people do in their own ways, and that is volunteer service.
Humor has a lot do with the kinds of interactions my patients and I share. People say I'm funny, but my terminally ill patients are often funnier, not only with me, but with others with whom they have contact. A very engaging patient shared many hilarious stories about her life. Some days she’d just reminisce and have us both cracking up, especially when she talked about the bear chasing her in circles around her house in a rural area. A male patient and his three roommates teased one another so much, it was unlimited laughter every time I visited them at the nursing home. (Continued at link below.)
Happy endings,
Frances Shani Parker
Replies
I love this photo!
There is a lot of laughter in my hospice office. Some of it is death related and I quickly learned that many of my friends didn't "get" it. Those that have volunteered with me do now. It is rewarding, not always full of laughs, but enough so.
Thanks for writing!
Yes, some people do wonder about hospice volunteers, but we "get" it. Thanks for writing. If you think of a funny hospice story, let us know about it.