People We Have Touched
If you have a story you would like to share about your experience with Hospice Family Care, we would love to hear from you. Please click here to submit your story for publication on this website.
At Hospice Family Care, privacy is of utmost concern, so please be aware that full names of patients will be replaced with initials and authors will be recognized with a first name and last initial, unless otherwise specified. Please also note that submissions may be edited and condensed due to space limitations.
Here are some of our stories:
"Hospice Family Care provided the most wonderful group of individuals to assist me with the care of my mother, prior to her passing. Jan and Veronica, in particular, came to my mother's bedside regularly and treated her with the utmost care and love. I cannot begin to thank these ladies and everyone I had the pleasure to work with from this organization. It was important to me that my mother receive the kind of care deserving of such an extraordinary woman. Words will never express the enormous gratitude my family feels. You are all doing God's work and I am forever indebted to you. Thank you for making such a difficult period as tranquil as possible. Because of you, I was able to remain strong for her."
~Submitted by Deborah M.
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"I just wanted to thank Hospice Family Care and especially Margaret and Ernestine for their caring professionalism during a incredibly difficult time. When my brother was terminal, and could barely speak, Margaret made certain he knew his plan of care and that he was involved in it. We could not have done this without Hospice Family Care. Thank you so much."
~Submitted by Lorraine K.
~Submitted by Deborah M.
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"I just wanted to thank Hospice Family Care and especially Margaret and Ernestine for their caring professionalism during a incredibly difficult time. When my brother was terminal, and could barely speak, Margaret made certain he knew his plan of care and that he was involved in it. We could not have done this without Hospice Family Care. Thank you so much."
~Submitted by Lorraine K.
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"I work in an extended care facility in Huntsville and have had many wonderful experiences with the staff of Hospice Family Care -- from the doctors to nursing assistants. Everyone has always been very caring and kind to our patients and their families. There is one very special nurse that ALWAYS goes above and beyond for her patients and their other caregivers. We have a patient in common and she just won't eat or drink very much. Your wonderful nurse brought about 6 different drinks with which to tempt her but she didn't want any of them. She said she just wanted some well water...what did the Hospice nurse do? She found some well water and brought it to the patient who eagerly gulped it down. Another time, we had another patient in common. She was one of my favorites and had been living with us a long time. She was very sick and I knew she didn't have much longer with us. And, while I was home sick one day, she passed away. Your nurse (yep, the same one) called me at home to tell me she had passed so that I wouldn't come back to work the next day and see her empty bed and not be prepared. And that's not all, your social worker called me also to make sure that I was okay.
You guys are the greatest!!! Thanks for allowing me to voice my praises for Hospice Family Care."
~Submitted by: Skip Cook, R.N.
You guys are the greatest!!! Thanks for allowing me to voice my praises for Hospice Family Care."
~Submitted by: Skip Cook, R.N.
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"I am a hospice volunteer. When I share that with some folks, the first question often asked is, 'Isn't that drepressing?' It is sad at times, but I've always felt I get much more from volunteering than I ever can give. The patient I am sitting with now is a source of constant joy. She is in a nursing home with a serious lung condition, confined to bed and on oxygen. Despite all this, she has taught me more about grace than reading books and endless studying. She knows all of the staff, knows about their families, etc. They in turn bring her treats, paint her fingernails and bring in bright quilts for her. I asked her once how she remained so full of grace. She said grace starts with a strong relationship with God. I believe she was telling me that there was no quick and easy recipe for grace... that God's grace can be shown in the most unexpected ways!"
~Submitted by: Mary M.
~Submitted by: Mary M.
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"Over the past year I watched my father's health degrade greatly. One of the things that he fought almost to the end was living in a facility. And when I was asked to think about bringing in Hospice, he fought that until I explained it to him and had your staff explain what Hospice could do for him.
As time passed, both he and I realized how much a blessing Hospice was to the both of us. Hospice helped him eventually comprehend some things that he did not understand. It also helped me deal with some of the day-to-day stress of taking care of him.
The hardest thing I ever had to deal with was the relationship boundaries he and I had as "The Commanding Officer" and "The Seaman." It was something I always tried to break through. People told me daily how that was normal between military people and their children. It was something I always wanted to change. And on the night he died, he gave me that gift as I was by his bedside.
I can vividly recall the day his nurse asked him if he wanted to tell me anything about his death. And his response was "My son Robert is a man and he will handle my death like a man." Well he was right about the business end of it all. I had it all wrapped up by noon that day. But the part I was never prepared for was loss of him and how much I would miss him.
But what helps me to deal with it all was the love that your staff showed my father. What I really wanted to say to you and your staff is that I will be forever grateful for all that you did to help my father deal with his death. That was something I know I never would have been able to help him with.
Even your staff member that was on call the night he died treated both of us with respect. And I am grateful for that too.
Anyway, I wanted to express my gratitude for all that you did for my father. I know he loved each and every one of you."
~Submitted by: Bob Z.
As time passed, both he and I realized how much a blessing Hospice was to the both of us. Hospice helped him eventually comprehend some things that he did not understand. It also helped me deal with some of the day-to-day stress of taking care of him.
The hardest thing I ever had to deal with was the relationship boundaries he and I had as "The Commanding Officer" and "The Seaman." It was something I always tried to break through. People told me daily how that was normal between military people and their children. It was something I always wanted to change. And on the night he died, he gave me that gift as I was by his bedside.
I can vividly recall the day his nurse asked him if he wanted to tell me anything about his death. And his response was "My son Robert is a man and he will handle my death like a man." Well he was right about the business end of it all. I had it all wrapped up by noon that day. But the part I was never prepared for was loss of him and how much I would miss him.
But what helps me to deal with it all was the love that your staff showed my father. What I really wanted to say to you and your staff is that I will be forever grateful for all that you did to help my father deal with his death. That was something I know I never would have been able to help him with.
Even your staff member that was on call the night he died treated both of us with respect. And I am grateful for that too.
Anyway, I wanted to express my gratitude for all that you did for my father. I know he loved each and every one of you."
~Submitted by: Bob Z.