In the 80s, I was introduced to hospice through the Vesper Society.

As President Jimmy Carter entered Hospice Care over a year before his death, I was reminded of what a gift hospice is to those who are traveling their last miles and to their families.

Hospice allows people a dignity that hospital and curative care denies them.

It emphasizes living over the avoidance of death.

It seeks comfort and warmth for the person who is more than a patient. It facilitates as much family care and normality as possible.

It is the loving, gracious answer to excessive tubes, pain, and procedures that simply prolong existence for a short time..

"Gene Heckathorn and Bob Cummings had a driving desire to be of service in their community. The two businessmen dreamed of lay people, like themselves, living out their faith in the world, using their skills for the betterment of humankind. They traveled all over the country doing management consulting with nonprofit and church organizations."

"One day in May 1965, Heckathorn and Cummings were comparing notes about their work over dinner at a Philadelphia restaurant, named Vesper Club. They began to sketch out an organizational chart and their idea for a network of lay people on the back of their dinner placemat. What resulted was Vesper Society, named after the restaurant and to reflect the network concept they had created. And so began the first fifty years." – Source, https://vesper.org/our-first-50-years/our-founders-stories/

Vesper was looking for volunteer chaplains and they came to me at the right time.

I found a compassionate community of doctors, nurses, caregivers, therapists, and volunteers who truly cared for the families they served. At Vesper and other agencies where I volunteered, I rubbed shoulders with finest of humanity.

I also met wonderful travelers who were completing their earthly journey and had lessons to impart as well as their precious families.