Am I Ready?
Itâs a perfect day in Tampa, early December; the sun is warm but not hot, the breeze is cool but not cold. I park my car under the oak trees that surround the single-story building and stride toward the glass doors. Inside, I hesitate and hover a few feet behind a tall, middle-aged woman who is chatting cheerfully with the receptionist. The woman leans over the counter, obviously comfortable in this environment and, by comparison, I feel every bit the outsider that I am. Suddenly self-conscious, I scan the small foyer in an attempt to appear relaxed. It is an inviting space, with comfortable seats and a wealth of pamphletsâa blend of business office, hospital reception, and private doctorâs waiting room. The space is welcoming, but the signs on the doors and the employeesâ identification badges signal that I have entered a medical environment. Still, Iâm not as intimidated as I might be in a hospital or doctorâs office, and I remind myself that Iâm here for a good reason.
âMay I help you?â the receptionist asks as I step into the space recently vacated by the cheerful visitor. The receptionist appears to be in her early 70s, older than I expected.
âYes, I hope so,â I begin. âI wanted some information about becoming a volunteer.â
âLet me see if someoneâs available to talk with you,â she says, turning away from me to pick up her phone.
âI donât really need to talk to anyone,â I begin, fruitlessly trying to stop her from calling. âDonât you have a packet?â I trail off as someone picks up her call somewhere in the building.
She turns back to me, briefly, with the phone to her ear. âWhatâs your name, dear?â
âElissa Foster,â I reply before she speaks into the phone again.
She completes the call and then turns to face me and says, âNorma Sanchez is the volunteer coordinator. Sheâll be out to see you in a few minutes.â
âOkay,â I reply. âThank you.â
I had intended this visit to be quick, anonymous, and easily reversible if I decide to back out. Now, it seems I must meet someone and give an account of myself. Canât they just give me some printed information that I can read in private? I donât know if Iâm ready to commit, and Iâm unsure of my ability to say no if I feel pressure to sign up.
Looking around, my gaze is drawn to a permanent display on the wallâa sculptured metal tree with small brass leaves surrounding the branches. As I draw closer, I see names and dates commemorating loved ones and celebrating the work of the organization. On the wall beside the tree are more plaques and awards; I wonder about the faces and stories behind the names. I pick up an in-house newsletter. The feature story describes how one volunteer became involved; there is a Q & A section inside and, on the back, a section titled âWant to know more?â I realize that this question is directed to me.
I hear an internal door opening onto the foyer and slip the newsletter into my briefcase.
âHello, Elissa?â I hear a friendly and vivacious voice behind me.
When I turn, an attractive, bright-eyed woman in her 40s is walking toward me. She smiles broadly as she extends her hand and I canât help but smile back.
âIâm Norma Sanchez. Iâm a volunteer coordinator here at LifePath Hospice. Why donât we find somewhere to talk?â Norma ushers me through the door from which she just emerged. âDo you have time?â
âSure.â My pulse quickens as I realize that this is the beginning of the journey.
We enter a labyrinth of office cubicles and weave swiftly through narrow corridors. I quickly lose my sense of direction. I notice that several employees are wrapping cabinet doors and covering notice boards with Christmas paper and ribbons to look like gifts. The whole space sparkles with color and tinsel.
âWe like to decorate for the holidays,â Norma informs me with a smile.
âLooks great,â I respond, noting the sense of belonging and stewardship communicated by the act of decorating a space. I wonder if people stay in these jobs a long time.
âDid you call and speak to someone?â Norma asks.
âYes. I called a while ago and requested information. But then, I was going to be in the neighborhood anyway, so I just decided to drop by.â
I do not mention that my request for information was never answered. I also gloss over my hectic drive from the north side of town through heavy traffic on the interstate. Still trying to appear casual and unconcerned, I suppress the fact that I drove 15 miles to put myself âin the neighborhoodâ so I could just âdrop by.â
Norma introduces me to some of the women in the office. âElissa is interested in becoming a volunteer.â
Amidst a collective murmuring of approval, someone asks, âDo you want to volunteer with patients?â
âYes, I think so,â I reply, and everyone smiles. Iâm beginning to enjoy the attention, so Iâm also beginning to relax. Norma finds an empty office and we settle in.
âSo, tell me about yourself,â she takes me by surprise. I expected a prefabricated spiel about hospice and the duties of a volunteer; instead, Iâm called to tell a story.
In a few sentences, I describe my work as a researcher and teacher in interpersonal communication and health care. Norma asks questions often, and we quickly move to the topic of my family and my home in Australia.
Then, she asks, âHow did you hear about hospice?â
I describe my experiences with another research project that focused on the work of private geriatric care managers. This project introduced me to the field of communication and aging, and the participants I interviewed often mentioned hospice as a medical organization that was exceptionally humane and holistic in its approach.
âSo, I developed an academic interest in hospice as well as a personal one,â I explain. âIâd like to find out how hospice manages to do what it doesâparticularly when most of the medical profession isnât good at developing relationships and communicating with patients. From everything Iâve heard, although hospice is a medical organization, it consistently provides personal care and support to patients and families.â
Norma smiles, âHospice is wonderful and I love working here. Itâs also true that hospice is an organization like any other. Weâre not perfect.â
I nod quietly. Despite my efforts to be detached and objective, I tend to place hospice and everyone who works here on a pedestal. Perhaps my nervousness stems from this idealized image of hospice work. Normaâs observation that hospice is ânot perfectâ tempers my idealism and reminds me that I have much to learn about the reality of the organization.
âNow, Elissa, I want to ask you a couple of questions that I ask everyone who is interested in volunteering. First, have you had any losses in your life? Not just someone in your life who has died, because there are all kinds of lossesâlosing a job, a divorce or separation, even the death of a pet can be a significant loss.â
When I volunteered for hospitals in the past, the coordinators didnât remember my name from one week to the next, let alone ask about my life and motivations. Although I can imagine some people feeling defensive in response to this question, because of Normaâs obvious interest in me and her work with hospice patients, I donât mind talking about painful experiences.
âWell, I was divorced earlier this year,â I respond. âIt was the right thing to do and I have no regrets, but I miss my husbandâs family a great deal.â Even as I say this to Norma, I recognize that, for me, talking about being divorced is more embarrassing than painful.
Noticing my discomfort, Norma says, âIâve been there, too. Itâs okay.â
âAnd I suppose I also deal with being away from my family.â
âI can hardly imagine; youâre so far from home!â Norma exclaims.
âYou said that all your family is in Australia?â
I nod. âAnd weâre very close, even though we live on different continents.â
âDo you have grandparents or older relatives there? Or are they deceased?â
I take a breath. âActually, my only living grandparent, my grandmother, died soon after I moved to the United States. Thatâs probably the most important reason for why I came.â
When I left Australia I knew my grandmother was near the end of her life. She had been diagnosed with lymphoma 18 months earlier, and I had sought information from my own general practitioner about her prognosis. My doctor described my grandmotherâs outlook as ânot good.â In retrospect, I regret that I did not make myself more available to her as she struggled with cancer. She approached her disease in the same tough, no-nonsense way she did everything else. I remember helping her to contact the Cancer Society when she needed a wig, and taking her to and from her appointments, but we never spoke about her feelings, or mine. Although I didnât admit it at the time, I was glad that she never brought it up; that way, I was able to cling to the comfort of my own denial.
In August, when the day came for me to leave for graduate school, I could barely speak to her. I told her that it was very hard to leave and that I loved her very much. When she said, âI know,â she communicated so muchâthat she knew I loved her, that she knew how difficult my decision to leave had been, and that she knew we would not see each other again. I resisted an emotional display because she was her usual, stoic self. I hugged her until she said, âGo now.â I left her apartment quickly, crying, hoping that I had said enough, fearing that I hadnât. I think she planned that to be our last contact, but as we pulled away in the car to go to the airport, she walked out to the front gate to wave me off. I blew kisses out the back window until she disappeared from view.
When the phone call came from my mother in early December, I was shocked. I didnât expect Grandma to die so soon. I told myself she would celebrate her birthday in March and this fantasy sheltered me from thinking about her dying at all. Of course, her death would have surprised me no matter when it happened, because I never allowed myself to face the reality of her illness. Whenever I called home and asked to speak to Grandma, I was mystified by the prolonged silence on the line before my mother or father would say gently, âNot tonight.â It never occurred to me that she was too weak to talk. Because I did not stay to take care of her, I never saw the way the cancer ravaged her body; I only saw it reflected in my sisterâs eyes when she told me many months later, âIt was horrible. She didnât look like Grandma anymore.â I could see how vivid that memory was for my sister, but I had no experience with which to understand what it was like to watch a loved oneâs body deteriorate to a point beyond recognition. When I remember my Grandma, I have the luxury of seeing her with a straight back, strong arms, and bright eyes, but now I mourn both my grandmother and the opportunities and responsibilities I surrendered when I left to begin graduate school.
âWas your grandmother in hospice?â Norma asks.
âNo. I think in Australia hospices are like hospitalsâonly for people who canât stay at home. My Mum took a leave of absence from her job and was her primary caregiver, though Mum also had a lot of support from my sister and my Dad. Grandmaâs doctor coordinated her medical care and the community nurses came to the house every day or so. My mother speaks very fondly of the nurse who took care of Grandma. I get the impression that it was a very important relationship for my mother and for my grandmother, too. They became very close.â
âDo you wish that youâd been there for your grandmother?â Norma asks.
âI did feel that way for many months. I felt guilty about leaving, especially since I never got to speak to my grandmother again. I also felt like I let my mother down by not being there to help her. It took me a long time to talk about anything to do with Grandmaâs death. When I was finally ready to hear about it, I wanted to know what it was like, and the story she told me about the last few days of my grandmotherâs life reassured me, a lot.â
My mother told me this story. âIt was the last day of the school year and I had planned to attend the end-of-year church service. I had been on leave for weeks, but I wanted to see the students who were graduating, and I also needed the support of the other teachers. Well, I soon saw that Grandma needed me to stay with her, so I called Sheila in the principalâs office to say I wouldnât be able to make it to the service. She said, âItâs all right. We understand. You know weâll all be praying for you. The service will be for you and your mother.â
âI was disappointed about missing the service and, after a lifetime of struggle, I wanted to feel close to my mother. You may not know this, but when I first wanted to go to art school, she thought my plan was very frivolousâbut she supported me anyway. For some reason, this was on my mind as I came back from talking to Sheila. I also realized that few of the other teachers or my students had ever met Grandma, yet they were sending her their love. So I told her, âYou did a really good thing sending me to art school. Iâve been able to touch the lives of hundreds of children through the years, and those children are up at the school praying for you right now.â
âShe didnât look at me but she quietly said, âI know.â
âLater that morning, I was giving her a sponge bath and as I stroked her forehead she closed her eyes and said, âMy darling child âŠ.â
âThat was the only time she ever called me âdarling.â
âShe lost consciousness a little while later and we finally had to take her to the hospital that afternoon. She died the next day.â
As my mother told me that story, tears welled in her eyes and her face expressed sadness, strength, and pride. As I tell Norma my motherâs story, I am more...