About 2 hours after the celebration ended, Emily and I quickly switched mindsets from Celebrate Gracen to cooking the Rodriguez family a meal for their first evening home on hospice. I am currently on the mercy team at our church which is a team of people who prepare and take meals to families in our church after they have surgery, a baby is born, or after someone passes away. I cannot say how much I LOVE this ministry! I was talking to a friend about this and we were saying that when you prepare meals for people in need, you find that you're constantly thinking about/praying for this family as you cook for them. It's also an incredible honor to be allowed into someone's home during such a vulnerable time and be able to bless them with a homecooked meal, I just love it!
So Trevor and I went over to the Rodriguez' and spent 6-7 hours there. We spent most of our time sitting in the dining room talking with Dan and Emily and Ric's wife Anita, who at that point was absolutely exhausted from not sleeping. I really enjoy spending time with people when they are going through end of life with a family member. I know that sounds strange, but there is just something beautiful about it. That is one of the main reasons why I love being a hospice social worker...I am constantly encouraged when I hear stories of 50 year long marriages and I am humbled when I get to walk alongside a spouse who sticks by their loved one, even until their last days.
As it got later, Dan and a friend needed to run to the airport to pick up a family member and Trevor and I stayed with Emily and Anita at the house. As Dan left for the airport he pleaded with us to pray that the Lord would take his father quickly because he was suffering so much. So we did... the three of us started praying immediately that Ric would go to be with Jesus immediately to end his suffering. The next part is incredible and is such a testimony to God's faithfulness. 10 minutes later, Emily and I were comforting Anita when all of a sudden a family member ran out of Ric's room frantically telling us that he was no longer breathing. I ran in with Em and Trevor and began looking for a pulse and listening for breaths...I knew right away that he was gone. I quickly started thinking "I'm not a doctor, should I really be the one to determine if he really is?" I looked at his wife and said "Anita, I think he's gone." The next few minutes were a little bit of a blur as people began expressing their grief outloud. I started thinking to myself that determining if someone has gone to be with the Lord is not normally my job on the hospice unit at the VA... this was completely out my element. I am usually the one outside comforting family members...which is the role I quickly took, because it's just me. I remember telling Trevor as we drove over to their house that there is a big difference between "VA hospice social worker Allison" and going to a close family friend's house who is beginning the hospice journey...everything becomes a little bit blurry when it's personal, and it was so personal.
Being in that house for just those short 6-7 hours made me reflect on my own experience with my mom being on hospice as well as all of my families at the VA who have loved ones currently on hospice. But most of all, it allowed me to feel more and more of the presence of God and reflect on what Heaven will truly be like. After all, about an hour after Ric passed, we all took a toast to his life and praised God for ending his suffering and bringing him home. I haven't felt the presence of the Lord that strong in a long time and it was an incredibly refreshing and humbling evening to be invited into.
Thank you Lord for being faithful to your promises!
