About 7:20 tonight my phone rang and it was a number I didn't know. Normally I don't answer those calls, but this time something told me I should. It just happened to be a family member of one of my former clients from when I worked for CDM. They were calling to let me know that she is dying and they don't expect her to live through the night. Turns out she was having some pain in her stomach for a couple weeks and last week the doctor told her that her body is FULL of cancer. This woman has been the picture of GREAT health her entire life... and this is how she leaves this world? I'm not angry... I can't be. She decided that she wasn't going to fight and that she is ready to go home to God and her husband. She checked her self into Hospice and has been in a coma for a couple of days.
Thinking about Joyce makes me smile and cry at the same time. The first day I met her I came home and BAWLED because she reminded me so much of my Granny. Over the next 3 months I grew to love her even though I knew I shouldn't... even though I knew how important it is not to get attached to your clients. But some times it just happens and Joyce really had a way of getting into your heart. Joyce was so spunky and full of life and no matter what hand she was dealt she never let it get her down. I remember one time I got to her house and found her out side standing in her yard bent over at the waist pulling weeds. It didn't matter what kind of mood I was in when I got to her house... I always left happy. She was an inspiration.
As I sit here and remember her and do my grieving I am left with one thought... one thing that Joyce ALWAYS told me when she felt I needed to hear it which was a couple times a day lol...
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