Friday, September 6, 2013

My Hospice-Esque Experience

Awhile back I had a hospice-esque experience driving to refill propane tanks.  I was driving the back road from my house and my dad noticed an elderly woman waving from a bush.  I missed it, and he found it weird that she was waving from a bush, but he didn't seem to think it was a big deal.  So we went and got propane and drove the same road back.  The second time we decided to check a little more carefully. 
Turns out this woman had fallen and was having trouble getting back up.  We stopped to help her and then chatted with her for awhile.  She was gardening and had slipped in her flowers and had pulled herself to the bush but was exhausted.  She had been sitting there over an hour while her daughter was inside and couldn't hear her.  It goes to show that sometimes you are placed in the right place to help someone.  This woman was 90 years old and had lived on the same road as me since 1940, when my city was just starting to creep from the valley to the hills.  Her name was Pearl and she was such a sweet old lady.  We had a conversation about her garden and how beautifully she had kept her front yard, with a vast assortment of flowers over the years. 
It's so nice to continue interacting with the elderly even after hospice.  I was really enthralled at how I knew how to handle the situation because of the skills I gained from hospice.  I felt surprisingly comfortable in conversing with Pear in her emergency and helping her even though she was a complete stranger and beyond me in years.  It lead me to realize how blessed I was to have my experience at Creighton and how well it helped me to become an active person in my community as well as be able to help those in need.

Written by Pat

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