My quilt square is done in memory of my father. My dad was disabled when he was in is early 40s. He had had 4 hip replacement surgeries and never quite recovered fully from them. In his 70s he was diagnosed with prostrate cancer.

My dad, through all of his pain, never wanted to take any kind of medication for pain mainly because he had seen his brother become addicted to pain medication after WW II. So, he suffered many years with hip pain and then finally pain from the cancer.

During the last year of his life he made the decision that he did not want to die in a hospital. ( He had spent alot of time in the VA and saw many others pass there.) During that year he never really told my brother or I how bad off he really was. I was not told until just about a month before he passed away. Hospice was wonderful. They became involved about 2-3 weeks before he died. They brought in a bed that could be set up in the living room. ( My parents lived in a small mobile home.) He could watch TV and be close to my Mom in the kitchen and also greet his friends that stopped by. Hospice also had a nurse come in to help my Mom several times a week. She was wonderful and I could see how she had just seemed to make my mother ( and father ) feel so good about the decision he had made to die at home. This nurse had such a wonderful calming effect on both of them that I know (even though I wasn't there when he passed away ) that he died in peace.

When I was there several days before he died my Dad told me that he knew that everything was going to be fine. He asked me to take care of my Mom's finances (she had never written a check befor ) and told me how proud he was of me. You see, my Dad had never really told me that before. I knew he always felt bad because they couldn't afford to send me to college but regardless of that I managed to make my way up the banking ladder to become a Sr. VP. But, I never heard him say how proud he was. I truly think that he was so at peace with the fact that he was dying and I believe alot of this is because he was able to do so at home. Without hospice, this would not have been possible.

Linda Newton
Florida