Brattleboro Area Hospice Volunteer and Friends Newsletter
Take a moment this summer for
 First Thursdays in the Memorial Garden
July 6, August 3, and September 7,  5:30-6:00
Join us to pause and reflect in our garden

Please come to the Hospice Memorial Garden located at Living Memorial Park in Brattleboro on the 1st Thursday of each month at 5:30 for a brief, informal gathering to remember loved ones.    
 
We'll spend about half an hour enjoying the beauty of the garden, decorating memorial stones to place in the garden, listening to inspirational poems or short readings, and maybe some quiet music.

It's not necessary to let us know you're coming-just come!  The garden is on Guilford Street, on the hillside adjacent to the road, directly across from #150 Guilford St. If you're uncertain about the weather call the office at (802) 257-0775 and speak to Connie at ext. 104 or Joyce at ext. 105 to learn if we're having the gathering.
Taking Steps Brattleboro

Your Questions Answered by Joanna Rueter, our Advance Care Planning Coordinator

Hi Joanna,
Some people at a meeting were talking about a "GO WISH" card game. Some sort of conversation starter.  What's the scoop? There wasn't time to ask, Curious

Dear Curious,
Ahh! Glad to hear that.  The GO WISH game was created by an end-of-life coalition (CODA ALLIANCE) in California and can be really helpful when doing advance care planning!   

There are 35 cards, each with something that may feel important to you plus one wild card for a wish that may not have been covered. There are bunches of different ways these can be used; on your own as a kind of solitaire; with your health care agent, with family, with friends.    

The website: http://gowish.org/  gives a full explanation of how to use the cards and even provides a free online form of the game. We have several packs of the cards for loan in our Hospice Library if you prefer to stay off computers.  I hope you'll check it out, Joanna 
 
Dear Joanna,
I live in New Hampshire but all my medical people are in Vermont. What do I do as far as an Advance Directive? I live only a couple of miles away!  Thanks, H. N.

Dear H.N.,
It's taken me several times checking on this to be absolutely sure of the answer! Here it is.

You need to get the Advance Directive form specific to the state you live in * and follow those instructions. You distribute it as outlined by your state. You can make additional copies for anyone else you feel should know your wishes. New Hampshire doesn't pay for registration the way Vermont does but you can get the same service by personally registering your directive with the National Registry. Some folks appreciate that extra security. See https://www.uslivingwillregistry.com/
Because your town borders Windham County, our Taking Steps facilitators are available to help.  Feel free to call if you have any questions or just want to talk things over with a trained volunteer! All best wishes!  Joanna (*Just google "Advance Directive New Hampshire") 
 
Please feel free to contact Joanna with your Advance Care Planning questions  by phone 802-257-0775 x 101  or by email:

People who are dying are far more positive about it than people expect, according to new research.  "Humans are incredibly adaptive - both physically and emotionally--and we go about our daily lives whether we're dying or not," Gray explains. "In our imagination, dying is lonely and meaningless, but the final blog posts of terminally ill patients and the last words of death row inmates are filled with love, social connection, and meaning." ~Andrew Griffin, The Independent

Click below to read the full article:
Study about attitudes of dying people

Lately there have been a number of beautiful poems about grief and loss on the radio program The Writer's Almanac.  Click below to read or listen to the poem
What I Learned from My Mother by Julia Kasdorf

Poem on Writer's Almanac

Contact us for 
Grief Support


What's important 
to you?
Have you made it part of your life?

Take part in 
A Year Well Lived!

For info
click here
Before I Die I want to...

Brattleboro now has it's own Before I Die wall at Experienced Goods Thrift Shop.  Stop by and fill in your response.  These walls are an international art project that raises consciousness about mortality by encouraging us to consider what we want to do before we die.

Click here to learn more about Before I Die walls around the world.

How we're different.... why we're important

Brattleboro Area Hospice is one of only 200 volunteer non-profit hospices left in the United States providing volunteer-staffed programs to dying and grieving community members. We were founded in 1979 on the belief that no one should die alone, and are dedicated to offering all services free of charge.

 

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Brattleboro Area Hospice   |   susan.parris@brattleborohospice.org

191 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301