Patience and Patients

As a highlight of my week last week, one of my long term hospice patients with dementia was alert and lucid. When I introduced him to someone new, he shook their hand and greeted them.  Then he and I shook hands and he didn't let go of mine.  I sat right down on his bed, and we talked a bit about his past as a scientist for 3M. I asked him if he was the kind of scientist who worked on paper, or if he did cool things in a lab and got to do experiments.   He was glowing when he told me that he remembered that he wore a lab coat every day.  He was full of smiles and little bits of information, and after almost an hour I gently extracted my hand and left to give him time to rest.  
I went to a different home to see another patient and ended up feeding him "lunch".  Pureed lasagna and beans didn't look good to me and didn't seem to taste good to him, but we cooperated enough to get some down.  After lunch, the sun was shining brightly, so I wheeled him out onto the patio and into the fabulous sunshine.  It was a bit cool, but he and I stayed outside and sat holding hands. He closed his eyes and fell asleep in the sunshine, with the fresh air filling his old lungs.  He was so peaceful, and I swore that if he could speak he'd have said "Aaah, this feels so fantastic!" I wondered when he had last been wheeled outside.
There are days when I feel so ineffective as a volunteer and days when we are all in sync.  This hospice day was one of the best that I have ever had.  I felt so very blessed!