STORIES
HONORING THE PLACE BETWEEN NO LONGER & NOT YET
I joined the HKA community in the Spring of 2012 on the recommendation of a friend who was a hospice wellness program client. I had just completed the long course of treatment that can ensue after a cancer diagnosis, and was seeking a place that could offer me some support while I transitioned back into life after cancer. I was physically, emotionally and spiritually drained. The year that I had spent in treatment coupled with the post-treatment side effects, left me feeling overwhelmed, in pain, isolated, worried, lonely and defeated…not at all the way I thought I would be or should be feeling as a cancer survivor!
Nervousness. Excitement. Worry. Reservation. Delight. These are just a few descriptions of how I felt when I first began my volunteer position with Hospice King-Aurora (HKA) as a co-facilitator of the child bereavement group. For years after the passing of my sister, despite prodding from several prominent people in my life, I shied away from participating in any bereavement group. Needless to say, to find myself preparing to help lead one brought up mixed emotions.
THE GIFT OF RELAXATION
by Bobbie, Wellness & Visiting Volunteer
Volunteering for Hospice King Aurora has proven to be, in a word, inspiring ...the wonderful staff, volunteers, and especially the clients. In 2004, I joined Hospice King Aurora as a visiting volunteer, and was very touched by the warm, welcoming atmosphere. The "care, compassion and support" for the clients is also extended to the volunteers. With the establishment of the "Wellness Program", I became a certified reflexologist and have been practising this modality for the clients since 2008...
This is the story of how Hospice King Aurora helped us provide vital group caregiving for someone suffering from a life threatening illness, and, in the process, touched all of our lives for the better.
When we first learned that Joyce was suffering from ALS, we knew she’d need daily, ongoing, deeply personal care, love and understanding.
JOURNEYS
by Blair, Visiting Volunteer
Why should we have to journey alone? Visiting those who are nearing the last stages of life gives me the privilege of accompanying my fellow humans as they journey. No need for fancy words or fancy thoughts and reflections. Just being present to the other is quite enough.
MY LAST WISH
by Bonnie, Volunteer
& Linda, Client
Linda and Trevor first met decades ago while working together as colleagues, and friends. Many years later, after both were no longer in relationships, their friendship grew and they became partners in business and in life. In the end, it would be his tremendous love and strength that would give her the power she needed to fulfill his last wishes.
A BLINK OF AN EYE
by Zohreh, Visiting Volunteer
for Bruce, client
In the nest I hatched
there was no love
no compassion, no happiness
In the nest I hatched
I was surrounded
by abuse, picking, screaming,
fighting, pushing,…
I witnessed no happiness.
I learned by myself to survive
I learned to be strong
I learned to get rooted
even though I traveled
through streets
through homelessness.
I learned to see life
even though I became blind,
blind through my father.
Eight surgeries later
many years after
I saw again
And this time I wanted to see
the good and not the cruel
I learned to survive, to be strong, to be rooted
I learned to be like nature
Surviving the seasons.
I chose to be strong
on my own feet
no ‘help” from drugs, alcohol in the street.
It was a tough life
A blink of an eye
but I learned to see what others couldn’t see
I learned it the hard way
Some broken bones, some fights
But I learned and survived.
Now that I am sick and
consumed by cancer
as helpless as I might appear
I am building a home
in some hearts with love and care.
I now have a loving home holding me dear.