We lost my stepdad recently. Because of the current COVID-19 protocol, St. Elizabeth Florence was the third stop on his hospital tour, unaccompanied by any family or loved ones. Even with a negative COVID test result, we could not be with him in his final days. The last time my mom saw him was when the ambulance took him away three days prior. As you can imagine, this was painful for us to not be with him and to not be able to make sure he was getting the care he needed. This is where Michelle comes in. My mom gave Michelle my cell phone number so that I could FaceTime B on Wednesday afternoon. Because of her kindness, my husband, my children, and I were able to see him and he was able to see us through her phone. It almost felt like we were there. My husband, who is a doctor, was able to talk to her about his care, and we were able to talk to my stepdad. Michelle told us about what they tried to feed him - he hadn't been interested in eating, and they tried the different suggestions offered by my mom. While we were talking, my daughter had told him that he needed to get well so that we could all go to Red Lobster together soon. I added, "and we will listen to Neil Diamond in the car on the way." B smiled. It was the first real positive response we had seen from him during our conversation. He was a huge Neil Diamond fan. Michelle told us that even though my mom had an android, she could FaceTime with B with the help of some app. She wasn't sure of the name, but she volunteered to download it too once we figured out what it was so that my mom could FaceTime him the next day. Sadly, my mom never had the chance. I texted Michelle the next morning, after B passed, to thank her for her kindness, and for providing us with an opportunity to see him during this crazy time. Her response was heartfelt and sincere. Later that day she sent me this text,
"IDK if it matters or not, but I hope it makes you feel better knowing that when we hung up the phone last night, we used our cell phones and played Neil Diamond for him."
I can't tell you how much that meant to my family. To know that she, and her fellow nurses, noticed how he reacted to the mention of his favorite singer and used that to help him feel comfortable, maybe even at peace.
It hurts to lose someone you care so much about. It is excruciating to not be able to be there with them. My mom and I feel a little better knowing that someone as thoughtful and caring as Michelle was there in our absence and did all she could to lessen his and our pain.