The Gift

The Gift

Article by Zhailaa Rei

Music Specialist

     It was late afternoon and the shadows in the room had that elongated effect that signified another day coming to a close.  I sat by the bedside and held the hand of a woman I had not even known yesterday, but at this moment it was as if we had been friends forever.  How does that happen, I thought?  How is it, that life dynamics can sometimes bring eternity from some far away place and set it right in the center of your heart?  It takes a powerful moment-a moment like this, such an intimate and sacred time, a culminating test of faith and fortitude.  We mortals call it death.  Yet, it seems more like a birth.  How closely related these two life-phases are.  Both involve pain and struggle and the approach of new and vital dimensions.

     She stirred now, and I touched a cool cloth to her brow.  “Thank you,” she whispered, and the words wrapped around my heart.  I stood and took up my little harp again and sang a few more songs, hoping to bring comfort.

     People have said to me, what a wonderful thing you hospice folks do, entering an arena most people are uncomfortable with and avoid.  It’s such a great gift you give. Oh no, I always answer.  We are the ones receiving the gift.  It is a sacred space we share, a powerful point in time that can magnify your heart and soul and heighten your understanding of the divine.  You find out you can love even more than you thought you could.  Now that’s really a gift. A rare and profound experience. 

     I would have another such experience tomorrow, or the next day, when the phone call came, “She’s Gone.”  I would pause for a moment and let that mix of emotion run through me, the emptiness of the space she left, the fullness of having come to know her.  The sorrow for pain of loved ones, the joy for suffering ended. Most of all, the honor for having been allowed to be a part of it all.