Yesterday was hospice visiting day for the dynamic duo. As always, I was excited to begin my "hospice day". My friend and I did 9 visits in four different locations, so we were plenty busy. It was an interesting day for me. As I reflected on my day, I was thinking that I didn't feel as though I had connected in a meaningful way with many of my patients. I decided to take some more time to mentally go through my day.
"Martha" is a special lady. The minute I bend down and touch her hand, she always lights up and clasps my hand in both of hers. She is animated, appreciative, and as always, so very sweet. She loves to visit and yesterday was no exception. We spent a long time in the lunch room chatting while the residents waited for their lunch to arrive.
I also remembered that as I do almost every week, I made a new friend. "John" is wheel chair bound and almost non verbal. His eyes kept drawing me to him. I finally walked over, touched his shoulder, and introduced myself. I asked someone at the facility what his name was. I just started chatting with him about the Twins, the weather, and his lunch. Soon, he started moving his hand around in the air. I tried to see what he was pointing at, or figure out what he was trying to say. I reached out and took his hand in mine and he immediately squeezed it and held on to it. It turns out that my new friend "John" just wanted that physical connection. I tend to forget, that to him, holding hands is a pretty big deal. When was the last time that someone touched "John" just to nurture him?
So while I didn't have any huge aha moments yesterday, as usual, my patients and friends reminded me that sometimes it is the small things that feel so big. It was a great day!
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