Hospice...

I went to see Pearl today after church. She was in bed and not able to talk much at all. I hugged her and she just hugged me as tight as she could. She told me they have called Hospice in. I'm not sure how much time they have given her, but it's not going to be long at all. She told me that she's ready for it to be over.

To see this vibrant person turned into this shell of what she once was is very hard.

I told her I would come by every day, if for nothing else but to just hug her. She said she wanted that so much.

Pearl...

My friend Pearl is 91. I met her a few years ago when I started volunteering for the Hallmark. She was fiesty and independent and funny and sweet and just a joy to be around. She and I became friends and would go to dinner, plays, Atlantic City, and just hang out together. She and a another lady there, became my surrogate grandmothers for me. I have always had a love of older people. I love to hear the stories, hang out with them and get to know them. Pearl and I are friends and I adore her.

About a month and a half ago, I went to see her and found out that she had just been told she has pancreatic cancer. This has totally changed her, of course. She was always in a meeting for the community, going to the YWCA for bridge and leading the Hallmark in all kinds of events. For the last month and a half, she's just lost the ability to do anything. She has lost so much weight and just can't function much at all. I've tried to go visit her but when I call, she's not up for it. I'm going to try again tomorrow after church. I hope I can see her then.

She's just a sweetheart and thinking that she will not be here, is hard. I just lost my last grandparent in August and to lose a surrograte grandma so soon, just seems so unfair.