My Inspiration

I will be doing my service learning project with the Hospice for Heroes Veterans Program at New Beacon Hospice in Birmingham, Alabama.  You may wonder why I choose veterans and hospice so I will tell you a little about what inspired my project, my grandpa.  My grandpa is a veteran of the United States Coast Guard; my dad and I are veterans of the United States Navy, so veterans will always be close to my heart.  In November 2011, my grandpa was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.  In January, the doctors told him that he had about six months left to live.  The doctor educated my grandpa and his wife about hospice care and told them to let her know when/if they needed hospice to come in and she would have everything set up for them. 

Having to watch my grandpa’s health decline so rapidly was not easy to do.  My grandpa was my best friend and confidant.  In the last several years, we would have weekly lunch dates where we would swap sea stories from our time in the military or talk about how I was doing in school, he was always so proud of me.  There came a time where we could no longer do our weekly lunch dates.  In mid to late April 2012, my grandpa was barely able to get out of the house.  The doctor then arranged for my grandpa to receive services from New Beacon Hospice.  A few days later my grandpa started receiving visits from a wonderful hospice nurse who kept him comfortable and as pain free as possible. 

How doctors can determine how long someone has to live will always be a mystery to me.  In my grandpa’s case, they were right though; my grandpa lost his battle to lung cancer on June 8, 2012 at 80 years old.  I thought by doing my service learning project with New Beacon Hospice that I could give back to them to express my gratitude for all they did for my family during that difficult time.

My grandpa was and will continue to be a source of daily inspiration in my life.