Living & Dying: A Hospice Blog

Ongoing group, meets every other Tuesday in person. Caregiver, caretaker, care partner, care provider…whatever you call it, it takes a lot of yourself to care for another person, whether they are near or far. People tell us that sharing their experiences in the company of others...

Ruth Nangeroni, Hospice Care Coordinator My most memorable hospice client was a man, S, who was basically all alone in the world.  He’d estranged himself from his family and had no real friends to speak of. Childhood abuse suffered in mental health hospitals had left S with...

New Year's Eve was never a big to-do growing up but it was still memorable. I don't recall my parents ever going to a NYE party; we were always home together. Probably because we would have a big holiday roast the next day, Mom didn't...

Five years ago, I drove out to Ohio on Thanksgiving day, hit a deer just shy of the PA/OH line, and then spent the next few days visiting with my parents in between replacing my car's windshield, finding out whether it was safe to drive...

  Violet Jacob's Hallowe'en text The tattie-liftin's nearly through, They're ploughin' whaur the barley grew,     And aifter dark, roond ilka stack,     Ye'll see the horsemen stand an' crack O Lachlan, but I mind o' you! I mind foo often we hae seen Ten thoosand stars keek doon atween     The nakit branches, an' below     Baith fairm an'...

By Jennie Reichman Fall arrived this year by turning the seasonal page with a flourish. One day I’m out in the garden swatting black flies and the next I am wearing a sweater and turning up the heat in the house for the first time since...

Life and Death in Community by Lars Hunter, Bereavement Program Coordinator As we enter a season of change it’s easy to write about trees and changing colors, but this year I’m going to write about birds.       I frequently go to a local business where I use...

Reiki Bringing Comfort and Peace by Fran Freeman      In January 1993, living in Boca Raton, Florida, I received word that my mother, who lived in Massachusetts, had lung cancer.  Without hesitation my husband Don said, “Well, you have to be with her.”  I took...

Willow Finds a Home by Kris McDermet, Hospice Care and Bereavement volunteer In May of this year, Stewart participated in a Brattleboro Area Hospice vigil case.  He sat with M for one visit before she sadly passed away in her home, which she shared with her cute...

Rain, Rain, Go Away By Lars Hunter, Bereavement Care Coordinator As I sit here writing this piece in my office at 191 Canal St., I’m looking out the window at the drenching rain that continues to pour down and seemingly has no end. Last night and this...