A Quiet Visit

Today I sat for an hour with a dying woman.

I don't know her well at all, but am friends with her daughter-in-law. The original plan was to be the support for my friend, but through a set of circumstances, that will be tomorrow instead. So I thought I would go ahead and and visit, and be whatever I could be for this person.

I had prepared myself through the afternoon for the visit, thinking I would need to be a strong support for my friend, who is having a great deal of difficulty dealing with this end-of-life situation and the circumstances leading up to and surrounding it. So I was well rested, but somewhat nervous as I entered the hospital, not quite knowing what to expect or quite how to behave. Does the patient know how sick she is, is she well enough to understand, or perhaps her family has kept it from her? All unknown, and no one to fill me in.

A quick prayer for guidance and I am on the second floor and then stepping into the dim room. She's asleep. I reached quietly in the nightstand for the Bible and sat in the chair and began reading Psalms. She woke up with a start and I apologized for startling her, and we visited for a few minutes. She drifted back off and I sat for a while longer while she slept, reading and praying, and then tiptoed out.

It was a blessing to me to be able to visit with her today and experience the quietness and the peace. I thought I would feel down after visiting, but instead the light seemed brighter, the world more beautiful, and my blessings more numerous.