Alan's Experience with Hospice of Baton Rouge
Death is one of the most avoided topics in our culture and yet remains one of the absolute certainties we all share.
At 86 ½ years old, my mom, Gay, began a rather rapid decline toward that transition between life and death. She needed increased attention and care that neither I nor my dad or my sister were able to provide. Thankfully, BR Hospice had a nurse (but more like an angel), Natalie, who showed up several times a week compassionately and professionally caring for my mom during her transition. My mom’s decline, while rapid in some sense, stretched over several months, and Natalie faithfully was there caring and comforting my mom, as well as my dad and my sister and me.
Before my mom’s need I had little idea of how hospice helped those making the transition, including the care givers. I guess there are really “no coincidences” in my world. I think there’s an underlying connection in all of life, and hospice was yet another example of this universal life synchronicity. We were referred to Hospice of Baton Rouge by the facility where my mom and dad were living. We reached out and learned how they might help my mom and her family in this transition.
Random? Hardly. Purposeful, meaningful and helpful? Beyond words! So thankful for Hospice of Baton Rouge and their team. I wanted to share my experience so that others may benefit from how hospice helped my mom and our family during her transition.
My mom loved the birds, and especially the bright red cardinals.
I still feed her birds, and now I have a metal cut-out of a cardinal hanging on my back porch with a small bell on it. I call it the “Granny Gay Bell.” (My mother was “Granny” to all 14 of her grandchildren, and, at the time of her death, 8 of her great-grandchildren.) I still visit with my mom, feed her birds, and ring the “Granny Gay Bell” to let her know I’m still right here with her.
Thanks to Natalie and the rest of the Hospice of Baton Rouge team, my mom’s death and our family’s transition has been better than if we’d tried to navigate this path alone.
Ding, ding Granny Gay, and a thankful shoutout to Hospice of Baton Rouge!
-aj