Embarking on a new adventure

One. More. Day. One more day. Thank goodness! And then, the real adventure begins....

I love what I do. I truly do. Right now I want to change things up a bit. So, after contemplating for a year or more I have decided to embark on the new adventure of Hospice volunteering. I had considered this option more than a year ago, but the training (28 hours of it) wasn't working into my schedule very well, or at all. The hospice program I am volunteering with only has 4 training sessions a year and with 2 different types of schedules. Last year, I happened to be out of town for 2 of the 4 quarterly trainings and then the other 2 didn't work with my work schedule. So when my chance came for this year I took it. I started training last week. I was in training Tuesday/Thursday night and all day Saturday. Ditto for this week. And now, I am tired. But excited. With one more day left of training, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's promising.

Then the real adventure begins. There are many different things I may be doing. I could be a respite volunteer, a friendly visiting volunteer, a vigil or bereavement volunteer, among a few others. I will get my first assignment 2-3 weeks after training, or as soon as I clear my background check, TB test and all the other loads of things that have to be checked off a list. Then a whole new experience will begin. Granted, I have lots of experience with people who are near end-of-life, have helped take care of family members and just in general feel comfortable around elderly people, my old soul and all. And yes, they have said that the majority of their patients are elderly. I guess I sort of envisioned younger people scattered in with cancer diagnoses, etc. And, yes I may work with someone younger, but there is lots of talk in training of working with patients who are elderly, some with dementia, etc. I have loads of experience with that. Loads.

The training has been interesting, somewhat of a refresher for me, but with (mostly) dynamic speakers. All sorts of things from M.D.'s to chaplains, Social Workers, Nurses, etc. I have had many take-away points from these sessions. A few of my favorite have been: in discussion about dementia-- there was a statement made that someone heard in a training-- instead of thinking of "Around the World in 80 Days" think of "Around the Day in 80 Worlds"- CLASSIC! It fits a lot of my days currently. An LCSW also stated that, "Do it now. Forgive now. Work on resolving issues now (not at the end of your life)." We were also asked, "What would your last words be?" and he more important question in my brain, "Who would you want to hear them?/Who would you speak them too?"

I am looking forward to the humbling and very privileged ability to serve those who are in their last months, days, and hours and the family and friends surrounding them. It is amazing. Really, breath-takingly amazing.