To the Editor:

As the New Year begins and I struggle to keep my resolution to address those things I keep meaning to do, but somehow put off and then never do, I know I must take time to write about what a wonderful organization Hospice is.

I have had three family members receive the services of Hospice, Ahoskie Office, over the past years.  Each time I was amazed at what the Hospice team meant to not only the patient, our loved one, but to us as caregivers, the family who deeply loved the patient.

It is a special blessing to be able to keep your loved one at home in their everyday environment.  This blessing is not just for the patient, but the family.  It is much better to be with your Mom or Dad in their home rather than in a nursing home or hospital.  What a wonderful gift for the patient and for the family.

The concern of the Hospice Staff for the patient is so reassuring at a time when you are very frightened about doing the right thing, dispensing the medicine correctly, not doing anything that would be more stressful or painful for the patient.  Their goal for allowing one to die with dignity and without undo pain makes this life transition an experience that the family will always remember with gratitude.  The quality of the nursing staff is unbelievable.  They are kind, caring and treat the patient and family with the utmost respect.

Often families do not want to use the services of Hospice because of the connotation of what it means, DEATH.  To most the name Hospice implies death, but it is about Life.  It is about the transition from one life to the next, connected to those we love. It is the heart of family life allowed to continue in the midst of the world we know and our fears of the unknown.

Hospice gives its patents a dignified and loving environment that guarantees the support a family needs at the most critical time families must face.

Thank you Hospice!

Nancy Gillam Spruill

Windsor