Testimonials & Hospice Stories

Hospice Stories

Our Promise to Clara

Thursdays are special days to three-year-old Abba because that is the day he transforms himself into the littlest Hospice Hero. Abba and his Bubbe Shaindy visit on Thursdays with Clara, a 97-year-young palliative care client. There's a certain rhythm to these visits, one that brings out the best in both Abba and Clara. The ritual begins with Abba waking Clara and leading her to the dining room for a snack, followed by a rousing game of B-I-N-G-O, a little visit and conversation in the living room, topped off with a hug to keep the friends going until the next time they get together.

"When I first met Clara, she was very reticent about social workers and all these adult strangers coming to visit her," says Barb Haddad, director of LifeLinks for Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network. "Her symptoms seemed uncontrollable and she would often shut down and seem despondent." That's when a JHCN volunteer, Shaindy, suggested she bring her grandson Abba along on a visit - an idea that proved miraculous. Abba and Clara became fast friends. "They don't get bogged down in a lot of conversation like adults do," Barb says. "They use non-verbal expressions, look at pictures and play B-I-N-G-O together."

"Abba's visits totally change Clara's demeanor and remind her of younger, happier times," says Shaindy. "Abba has awakened her spirit - he puts a spark in her so now Clara doesn't feel like she's at the end. Abba's visits give her a new beginning."

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