Transition

@Rihana,

As usual, some great questions from you. Thank you for engaging me on this snippet.

I am not sure whether it is anything to do with skin color or not but it took nearly 30 minutes for them to warm up with me. They talked with each other ignoring my presence for a while. It could be because they knew each other for a while or due to other reasons. I ignored their not noticing my presence and developed conversation voluntarily with them. I asked some pointed questions about them and their background. By the time I explained my background and why I do service in the Hospice (for spiritual growth), they began intense interaction with me. This happened towards the end of the duty time. No, I haven't seen much of Indian origin volunteers other than teen volunteers occasionally.

Regarding counseling the patient for their fear of death, we were trained about their type of emotions but not asked to counsel them other than giving company during the transition. That has to be done by a professional. At best we are allowed to hold their hand for comfort. The experts are available 24/7 but only on call and not in the premises.

Viswa

 

Dear Satchi,

Yes, it does. Thank you for your wishes. It also gives me exposure to something generally I am supposed to experience rarely and make me understand the value of time here in this world everyday.

Viswa

 

Dear Sri Thyagarajan:

Nurses are a very special breed among the human beings. Most of them go out of the way to serve beyond their call of duty. Even thought death is inevitable, blessed are the souls who leave at their will or wait for their kith and kin. Rajaji's death on Vaikunda Ekadasi is a perfect example. I truly consider this opportunity as a blessing and I wish I could do more.

Viswa

 

Dear Smt. Jayasala:

We all realize someday we are all going to leave. But someone knowing that they have only a few weeks to live should be a big impact in their emotions. It is a great learning experience for me to understand their emotions. I feel the best way to conquer the fear of death is to face it as frequently as possible and learn from it. Even if I gain a clue or two about what happens during transition, I might praise the name of the Lord just before my end when I encounter such happenings.

 

@Rihana,

One other thing I forgot to mention to you. Most of them volunteer because they would like to help veterans or one of their parents or spouse passed away due to terminal illness. They always like to assign a reason for volunteering and as they don't comprehend someone volunteering for a sense of fulfillment in life. There is nothing wrong with it as indicated in the training program. Volunteering is invaluable no matter what the reason is. Therefore I worked hard to bring what is the selfish motive behind my volunteering hidden deep inside my mind. The best I could think of is, if I study the emotions during transitioning, it would help me to overcome the fear of death.

 

Veteran History Project is another interesting training program for volunteers particularly Veterans. They record their combat experience and a copy is made available to the patient as well as his/her family members. A copy is kept for permanent records in the Hospice besides being submitted to Congress for its library. A formal procedure for Veterans as to how to decorate them after they pass away with honor is provided by Veteran trainers as well. Those who die in combat are very well taken care by the military itself whereas those Veterans take a lot of pride about their services to the country and they deserve full attention and similar arrangements like those who died in combat, as most suffered due to combat related illness throughout their lives. This is a very touching training program I look forward to get involved as I gain more experience.

Viswa