Our mother, lived at Bethany on 42nd. Last Thursday the nursing home nurse called and told us that she went to the bathroom, slumped over, and was unresponsive. She couldn't talk for a little bit, but then her speech came back and she refused to go to the hospital (being the stubborn German that she is). After a while, she finally was convinced to go to the ER. Once they looked her over, they discovered that it was her gallbladder - it turns out she had been sick for quite a while but didn't tell anyone. By the time she was admitted, her blood pressure was low and her kidneys were failing. They did everything they could, but nothing seemed to work - they couldn't keep up. By Sunday she passed away.

She was admitted to 3East and that's when we met the wonderful Joseph. He was born to be a nurse. He did such a wonderful job handling my mother, sister and me. He seemed to just know the right time to come in and the right time to leave us alone. He explained what he was doing, as he was doing, and was so patient with our questions. Towards the last hours of her life, he covered her with a nice comforter - got the comfort cart, spent the time to explain what was going on, what to expect. He gave her dignity in her death and that made all the difference for us. It was like God sent him especially for us. Just did everything right - he was kind, gentle - it's hard for me to put into words how thankful we are for everything that he did for us - we couldn't have had a better nurse.