Looking through the window of the Human Experience

The stories our staff are a part of last a lifetime. For me, watching my Dad travel his last journey from the window was one I will continue to relive the rest of my life. It will be a memory I cherish and embody as I continue to teach, mentor, and empower our Healthcare Heroes to have the impact on the stories they are a part of that ultimately bring connection, joy and purpose to the journeys of self, staff, residents and families.

As we come up to the one year anniversary of my father’s passing I am reminded of how my families experience could have been a nightmare. No amount of personal or professional death experiences could have prepared me for what I saw from outside that window. Nothing has ever made me feel so close, yet so far away and heartbroken. What I have learned along this journey is that the "thing" that has the greatest impact on suffering is how we love each other through it. From outside the window, I couldn't reach them to hug them, and love them all through it. My heart was breaking. All I could do is trust and pray that the people inside the room were loving them through it like I couldn't.

There was nothing but high praise and appreciation for all the staff at the facility, as my Mom felt supported and loved by all. For all of us who couldn't get to the man we admired, cherished and loved, our nightmare changed when a nurse named Sara from Moments Hospice came to work with her whole heart and all the tools she had at her disposal and helped us make some amazing memories in a few short hours.

Monday morning Physical Therapy was able to get Dick out of bed and to the bathroom with great difficulty as he had declined over the weekend. The decision was made to put him on Hospice. We requested Moments Hospice, and just as promised they were there within 2 hours of the referral, when Sara got there, she explains to Mom that because Dick had therapy that morning they were not able to officially admit him that day and would come back the next day to make it official. There was no next day for Sara in our story, but what she left b