Four years ago, during the Holiday season, the Hospice Volunteer Coordinator asked the Hospice choir I sang with to sing at their annual service to acknowledge all those in their community who has passed away during the year. We were all honored to be invited to sing at this powerful and heart warming service.
The service was held in their function room, and attended by the Hospice Social Worker, the Chaplain and the Bereavement Coordinator. There were about 20 hospice patients who had been wheeled in to the room. Some of them were very alert and participatory while others seemed to be totally withdrawn and even asleep.
Since it was the holidays and near Hanukkah one of the staff had included a traditional Jewish prayer in the order of service, to honor her own traditions. She started to say the prayer and one of the individuals in a wheel chair, who up until that time had been "asleep" sat upright and said the prayer along with the Staff member.
The choir all noticed this and many of us left with lumps in our throats and tears in our eyes recognizing the power of prayer, and the power of rote learning.
This moment in time shifted forever how I view the patients I visit. I never again assumed that because someone looked as if they were asleep, that they were actually asleep. I spoke to them as I held their hand, as if they could hear me. Many times, they squeezed my hand even though they might not open their eyes.
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