I visited with a woman who gave birth to her angel, Nathaniel. One of the most endearing things I have ever seen was a precious memory that hospice did for her. In plaster were her baby's feet. They were so perfect and so tiny. Even for me, it was so nice just to rub my fingers across the sole of the tiny foot. I would have never even thought to purchase the mold set beforehand. She was so lucky that someone else thought of this for her.

I'm sharing this because if you ever are in a place to know someone who will have to go thru this, it seems to me, it would be the most special personal gift you could give that family to help with their healing. They also got molds of his tiny hands. It was so touching.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 07:42 am:

I know from experience, hospice does wonderful things, not only for the patients, but for their families. They truly do make end of life easier to handle. What they did for her does not surprise me.

By Rayanne on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 09:54 am:

That is just so sweet.

By Kernkate on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 11:19 am:

How nice is that. Something to treasure.
I also had a few dealings with Hospice and they are truly wonderful.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 09:34 pm:

What an absolutely wonderful thing to do.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, April 8, 2005 - 06:14 am:

I have come to believe - and I have an *edge* since my wonderful friend has been a hospice nurse - that you truly have to be a special type of person to do that kind of work.

Another thing hospice does - at least the hospices around me - is they follow the family of the deceased for a year after death to make sure they have emotional support and are dealing with their loved ones' death.

I've been contacted twice now by the hospice my mom was in, and they are incredibly compassionate.

By Kaye on Friday, April 8, 2005 - 08:30 am:

We had a horrible experience with hospice. I am glad they are doign somethings right. My family will never use them again if there is anyway around it. They certainly haven't contact us since our death, not even once and we had to contact a lawyer to get $$ back from an overpayment.