Thursdays with Floyd: A Patient and a Volunteer Share More than an Illness

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One of the greatest gifts our volunteers give our patients is themselves – providing companionship, comfort, moments of laughter and joy, and a listening ear as our patients share their memories and reflect on the lives they’ve lived.

When Collabria Care – Collabria Hospice is entrusted with someone’s care, their quality of life is our first priority.  When our patient Floyd was admitted to our Hospice program, we were asked to provide two volunteers for him – one for spiritual presence and another for companionship.  We knew we had the perfect volunteers for him.

John, a companion volunteer, was about the same age as Floyd and even shared the same birthday! Both men had grown up on ranches in California and were each widowed after being happily married to a wonderful woman for 50 years.

Our only hesitation was that John shared a similar condition to Floyd – and Floyd was dying from it.   We worried that it would be “too close to home” for John – like looking in a mirror and seeing your future staring back at you.   However, we still felt compelled to present the opportunity to John and without hesitation, he said, “Yeah, let’s try it,” and that’s when their story began.

Over the next two years, John visited Floyd each week.   He called it “Thursdays with Floyd,” just like the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie.” John would take Floyd out to the patio where they’d talk about life on the ranch – horses, cattle, pick-up trucks and tractors.  On rainy days, Floyd would share fond memories with John as they’d flip through Floyd’s photo albums.

They spent one whole visit planning what cake John would pick up at the bakery to celebrate their next birthday! As John would say… they “were ‘two old guys’ getting together a couple of hours a week to just talk.”

And while we had worried about Floyd and John’s shared condition, that challenge seemed to just make their time together even more special.

When Floyd passed away, John remarked, “I’m so glad I had the chance to meet Floyd and share his memories.  It was a marvelous experience.”

Volunteers like John are an integral part of our extraordinary team – working seamlessly together to provide comprehensive medical, emotional and spiritual support to help ease physical pain, burdens, and anxieties for the most seriously ill in our community. Having served Napa County for nearly four decades, we continue to offer compassionate hospice services to those who need them, regardless of their ability to pay.

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