“Death with dignity” has become part of our national lexicon, associated with the compassionate care provided by Hospice programs nationwide during a person’s last few months of life.
For the past 35 years here in Talbot County, Hospice has been an invaluable asset to several thousand patients and their families as they face a painful end to lives well-spent. Hospice can’t change the medical prognosis. It can’t stave off the imminent demise. What it can do—so beautifully, so thoughtfully—is enable a patient to live with managed pain, to be treated in a humane way as death approaches.
Hospice does more. It gives families some respite during difficult times. It offers bereavement support for anyone in the community who has endured loss of a loved one, whether served by Talbot Hospice or not. And it offers spiritual support for anyone engaged in Talbot Hospice.
More than 14 years ago, my father-in-law died on Hospice. At the time, Liz Freedlander, was executive director of Talbot Hospice. As a family, we experienced over three weeks the incredibly loving and professional care that symbolizes this priceless community asset. Prior to becoming a patient, my father-in-law was a volunteer, visiting dying individuals in their homes and preparing Thursday morning breakfasts at Hospice House.
Talbot Hospice became a passion for our family. Liz oversaw significant growth in Talbot Hospice’s services, including construction of the guest wing, completed in 1996. Through their mother and their grandfather, my daughters learned the special goodness of Talbot Hospice. I learned that end of life for a loved one, while awfully heart-wrenching to watch, can be dignified and filled with grace and compassion.
The patient and family are not alone on the final journey. Hospice offers angels in the form of caregivers.
On a tour last week of the “new,” expanded Talbot Hospice, as it nears completion in mid-October, I was pleased to see that the renovation and expansion continue the homelike, non-institutional environment that has characterized Talbot Hospice since 1996. The professional and volunteer leaders of Talbot Hospice have succeeded in accommodating additional size with the proven tradition of compassionate care.
Patients and their families are still the number one priority. As they should be.
Inscribed bricks bearing the names of loved ones and friends stirred memories of people who walked this earth and made it better. It’s funny that an inanimate object like a brick, containing a name or even a phrase, stops you in your tracks and generates sorrowful thoughts. We can’t forget, and nor should we.
Visiting Talbot Hospice has always been easy. One arrives and leaves with a smile—despite the painful realization of a relative’s or friends deteriorating condition. End of life does not mean the end of care or caring. A patient’s dignity and self-worth deserve respectful attention and simple grace.
A guest wing with 12 rooms instead of six, a private family area, two additional caregiver stations, a designated space for the Hospice chaplain, an enlarged bereavement center, new office space for clinical staff, additional parking for families, visitors and staff—these are among the features of the expanded Talbot Hospice. More than $5.6 million has been donated by the community.
Hospice House, including its additional medical and office space, is still a home in the best sense. Though the final living space for the terminally ill, it projects a loving environment focused on patients and families. It projects respect for those enduring the ravages of impending death. It gives meaning to the lives of people facing finality.
Talbot Hospice has lived a full and meaningful 35 years in service to our community. Godspeed on its next 35 years.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.