(no subject)

[the_rck]

Our cleaning lady came early today. She wasn't expecting to find us home because I told her we might not be (I didn't know until Saturday how long we'd be staying in East Tawas). She came early because one of her other clients is very ill and is now in hospice care (she had open heart surgery, and her kidneys and a few other things simply shut down). The cleaning lady wanted to get over there as soon as she could.

I'm a little uncertain-- I know the woman who's now in hospice. For several years, until she retired, she was my psychotherapist. I like her a lot, but we haven't talked in six or seven years. I don't know her family, and from the sound of it, she's not in a state to appreciate a card or a phone call. I feel like I should do something, but I'm utterly at a loss as to what.

The cleaning lady brought her adult daughter. I believe her daughter can drive while the cleaning lady can't. I ended up talking with the daughter for a while.

Comments

[heavenscalyx]

I'd send a card. Someone might be able to read it to her during a more lucid period, if she's really in a bad way. It's so hard to judge how with-it someone is from second-hand accounts.

When I heard my aunt's sister was in "end game" after a long fight against cancer, I went ahead and sent her a card, telling her how much her little kindnesses had meant to me as a kid. After she died, my aunt told me that my card had meant a lot to her sister, and I was really glad I'd sent it.

[arduinna]

Here via Network to second this. The cards my sister got when she was ill meant the world to her. And even toward the very end, when we were convinced she wouldn't want to hear from anyone because she was so out of it, we'd pass along messages, and sometimes they made a big difference.

Even if she herself can't appreciate the card, the family probably will. It was really touching to see how many lives my sister had touched, and how many people were thinking of her. And it's not unusual at all for word to spread in such random ways about someone's illness, and for people to unexpectedly send sympathy or support.

[the_rck]

Thanks for the advice. I've written a brief letter (getting a card wasn't going to happen, realistically, until some time Sunday, and time is pressing).

[the_rck]

Thanks for the advice. You and arduinna decided me to write a brief letter and put it in the mail today.