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Hospice trees.

30 Comments

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If you’ve ever visited a hospice house, and I hope you haven’t because the sadness can be overwhelming, you’ll know that extra care is taken in the decoration. There are usually multiple rooms with comfortable furniture, soothing colors and thoughtful artwork.

The hospice in which my SIL currently resides has a thing for trees.

I suppose it’s a tree of life theme…which considering the circumstances seems appropriate. There’s a lovely quilt which greets you upon entry.

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And a beautiful stained glass door to a private room for grieving families.

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There’s no real reason for my posting this, we’ve just been spending a lot of time here so I thought I’d share.

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30 thoughts on “Hospice trees.”

  1. My father spent time in hospice before he died. I was so impressed with it – not just the staff, but the physical environment. On the other hand, I spent a couple months in my early 20s working in a nursing home. Worst job ever. Worst place ever. Wouldn’t put my worst enemy in a nursing home. Hospices, in my limited experiences, are different, though. I hope that’s true of all hospices, and not just your SIL’s and my dad’s. I’d hate to think of anyone spending their last days in a place like that nursing home.

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    1. The hospice where my mother died was absolutely amazing. I can’t say enough good things about it or the people who worked there. I don’t know how they do it, day after day of grief and sadness. But I swear they helped me as much as they did my mother.

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    2. Gotta agree with you there. I worked in a senior’s residence, they called it. A warehouse for unwanted old folks is what it was. And the owners and nanagers had no respect for the people they were supposed to be caring for. Cheap food, sparingly served. Bored residents, treated like cattle. One resident was a 95 year-old man who had been a world-famous pianist in classical circles. There was a piano there, but they wouldn’t let him play it — it might disturb the other residents! How he ended up there I’ll never know.
      I got fired after 2 months. I tried to treat everyone with respect, and they said I was making the other staff look bad. They said it was because I wasn’t a team player.
      Damn right I wasn’t a team player! I saw real people, not an easy, though cheap, salary. They wouldn’t even let me say goodbye to the friends I had made. Just get out and never come back!

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      1. I quit after 2 months and I couldn’t get outta there fast enough. I 100% agree about the employees – they treated the residents like crap. The only nice person there was the head nurse and her job was mostly admin, not patient care. The kitchen staff stand out as being some of the meanest ladies I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. Glad we both escaped as employees. Hope we never have to go back as inmates.

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      4. Maybe I wrote that last message slightly too well. I didn’t mean I am close to death, sorry if I gave you that impression. I am a senior, and I have a lot of health issues, which is what I meant by “almost there.” And the males in my family die young. But to the best of my knowledge I have a few years to go, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be the first male in my family to make it to 80. That’s 7 years away yet. My fingers are crossed.

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      6. What’s strange is most of the females, even in my extended family, seem to live forever (on my paternal side, my mom died when she was in her 40s!). I have aunts who lived to be 100+, but the males, I think the oldest was 77, and that was an outlier. Many die in their 60s, including a few of my brothers. (Not counting accidental deaths, though our family seens to avoid fatal accidents quite well. I think one of my grandfather’s brothers died in a motor vehicle accident, but that was back in the 1920s! And I had many uncles and grand-uncles, and 6 brothers!

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      8. Never got into Northern Exposure. When it comes to television I am a minimalist kind of guy. I’ve watch a few shows regularly, but not many. I spent more time reading books, until I lust my ability to focus after a concussion.
        So, I have no idea who Chris in the Morning even is…

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  4. That’s a beautiful door. Reminds me a home I once volunteered at that provided care for kids with terminal illnesses – there was a jungle room and a Disney room, etc. So the kids could escape the usual hospital decor.

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  12. The stained glass is just gorgeous.
    I’m so sorry you are here now; it can be full of sadness or a rebirth if you think about it hard enough. (I tried)
    I spent a bit of time at Hospice with my Mom; we were at a place of peace, and the hospice home and its treasured workers were beyond wonderful for her transition.
    Thinking of you both.

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