365daystogive's Blog

When I began on this journey I thought it would be pretty simple to find work, say “hey, let me give you some of my time” and someone would gladly usher me in and put me to work.  However when someone wants to volunteer in any facilities that cater to the elderly the circumstances change dramatically.

Today I went for an interview to volunteer for a hospice.  The volunteer coordinator was exceedingly friendly and made me feel right at ease, despite the types of questions she was asking me.  “Here we treat our volunteers as if they are staff, so they undergo an entry process that is very similar to them. ”  When she asked whether I had suffered a great personal loss I said not yet, and asked if that would disqualify me.  “No, we just want to know where you are in your process.”  The process of loss has yet to begin for me, but I confided in her that I thought it would start soon, with my own parents.

After about an hour she handed me a folder thick with papers to bring back during the training period.  In the interim she would run a background check on me, ask for a drug test and copies of all my IDs.  I told her I was anxious to get started, and I wondered whether that made me appear too eager.

Hospice care is perhaps something that I am throwing myself into too early, but as someone who lost all of her grandparents before the age of one, I feel that I need this chance to not only interact with the elderly but help them during their own passing, as well as the families that support them.  To be honest, I am a bit frightened by what I might see or hear, and the inevitability of one of my patients leaving while they are under my “care.”  Maybe I want to get used to the process because I know that it will enter my own life sooner than I want it to.  Of course, it is inevitable that this process occur but I am simply not ready to embrace it.

I will be grateful to the patients and families that allow me into their lives and homes.