A dying woman's daughter has been by her bedside for days. The daughter is exhausted and needs sleep. The son of a dying man lives far away and likely won't arrive before his father dies: he can't bear the thought of his father dying alone or afraid. A husband is...
A terminal prognosis is life-altering, scary, and difficult to prepare for. For Jean Molinari, cancer came suddenly. Her selfless response was to do her best to get her affairs in order and to try to avoid burdening her family – in particular her daughter and...
For some hospice patients, learning new things can be difficult. Their brains no longer have the dexterity for assimilating new languages, and their bodies have lost the flexibility for new dance moves. And yet, learning or experiencing something new can bring...
Since 2009, 92-year-old Elma Johnson has helped raise more than $106,500 by auctioning her wild blackberry pies at the annual Ports of Call Gala & Auction! Elma’s special connection to Hospice of the Northwest goes a long way back. Her son, Paul Johnson, was the...
Sam is curled up in his mom’s lap. At a glance, they look like any mother and 3 year old having a snuggle: Sam’s stuffed tiger hangs over the edge of the couch, and Laura is reading him his favorite story about a kid who wishes for duck feet. Sam and Laura aren’t like...
Barbara woke up and turned slowly to look at the other side of the bed. Tango was curled under the covers with her head resting on the pillow, purring. Moving slowly, Barbara painfully reached over with arthritic fingers to rub between Tango’s ears, reminiscing about...
