By: Mary Alice Weimer, KCH Volunteer
When approached about writing something for the Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care (KCH) blog during National Volunteer Month, I was asked two questions: Why did I become a KCH hospice volunteer? and What’s my experience been like as a hospice volunteer?
Mary Alice Weimer (left) with her mother who received hospice care, following a colon cancer diagnosis. This experience helped guide Mary Alice to her life’s purpose to provide comfort to other hospice families by sending bereavement cards and visiting patients at local nursing facilities as a volunteer with Kansas City Hospice.
How I Got Started
If I answer the first question, why did I choose KCH/volunteering for hospice, honestly, the answer is, “I don’t know.” I think it was more the experience of hospice finding me, rather than me looking for it. I had never had a “formal” hospice experience in my life, or I didn’t think I had until I attended my first volunteer training (years ago) with another organization. It was then I realized I’d been part of a hospice situation when my mother died of colon cancer in 1973. She spent her last days at home; a visiting nurse came and checked on her, and I became her caregiver until she was transferred to a hospital about four hours before she died.
As I walked out of that first training, I thought, “I do know what hospice is, that’s what happened in my own life, and I know I’m supposed to be part of it, in some way.” So here I am today: Continuing to be part of something that helps me to fulfill what I believe is my purpose in life. And, hopefully, providing some comfort to those who are going through what’s likely to be one of the most difficult times of their lives.
What It’s Like
To answer the second question would take more words then would fit in this blog post.
Through my experience as a hospice volunteer, I’ve learned the value of a listening ear.
I’ve learned that grief can be expressed in so many ways.
I’ve learned that those who choose to become medical professionals, volunteers, and other providers in the hospice world are very special people.
I now know that serving as a hospice volunteer can provide a real attitude adjustment on a day when you might be throwing yourself a little “pity party.” I truly believe I have, in many cases, received more from the families and patients we serve, than I’ve ever given.
I’ll always remember a woman I met while volunteering at Camp Erin during an arts and crafts session. The participants were making memory boxes. The project was to create a box where the outside was decorated with pictures, words, and other things that represent what they let the world see about them. The inside was decorated with things that show how the person really felt. This woman, a young widow, affixed pictures of beautiful pink roses to the outside of her box. The inside was painted solid black. This was a real reminder that people we meet may not really be as “together” as they appear.
I’m hoping, as a Kansas City Hospice volunteer, I can leave people a little better than they were before I had the privilege of meeting them. I have people ask me often “How can you do that? Isn’t it sad?” And the answer is, yes, hospice can be sad. But it can also be so rewarding when you have the privilege of being a part of such life-changing events in other peoples’ lives.
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April is National Volunteer Month, and Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care volunteers provide non-clinical patient care and family support, assist with grief support services, and contribute administrative and operational support. If you, or someone you know, would like more information about our volunteer opportunities, please visit our volunteer website.
Posted in Kansas City Hospice, Volunteer Stories