Donate Today to Pay Forward the Gifts of Time, Closure, Unexpected Joy, and Peace
When my mother, Vicki, first received her cancer diagnosis about 15 years ago, she immediately took on an indomitable attitude toward living. She redoubled everything around her already healthy lifestyle. Every day, she walked or did something outside. She even started foraging for turkey tail and reishi mushrooms to blend her own chaga chai tea. Then, after a decade and a half living with cancer, her health declined to the point that she could no longer speak or walk. It was always her wish to die at home, so we called the hospice team at Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH).
From the start, CVHHH brought a little bit of light into the house. The hospice team met us with honesty, compassion, and openness. They were surfing the wave with us, and they gave reassurance that, though we could not change my mother’s prognosis, we were doing great in supporting her. For the first time in a long time, my father’s stress subsided. I, too, worried a little less because I knew my mother was getting the care she needed. I can’t say enough how helpful it was.
I have noticed that often when people face death, they put it behind a firewall. They avoid it. I understand this instinct, but that’s not me, and it was not my mother. We asked a lot of questions – about my mother’s care, how she was feeling, and what came next – and CVHHH always answered without judgment or condescension. They wanted us to understand, and they gave us the tools to move through a profoundly challenging time. We knew it would be difficult, but, with CVHHH’s help, we also knew we would get through it.
Having the support of the hospice team also created space for moments of pure joy at a time when I least expected them. I discovered that if I played my mother’s favorite music and sang, she would sing along, even though she could no longer talk. We spent hours singing together to Neil Young. I got many life-changing and wonderful moments like this one to connect with my mother because she was home. The time we spent together and the sense of closure it created was everything, absolutely everything.
There is good work happening around us every day when CVHHH’s clinicians provide skilled, compassionate care that prioritizes their patients’ wishes. As the owner of the Blackback Pub in Waterbury, I try to pass on the care and feeling of assurance we received from CVHHH to my customers and community.
Help me continue paying forward the incredible gift of time, closure, unexpected joy, and peace that CVHHH brought to my mother and our family.
Sincerely,
Ehren P. Hill
