The woman had been non-communicative and sleeping long hours for several days when one of my hospice’s volunteers, Janet, came to visit her at the hospice house. The weather was perfect so Janet helped the hospice house aide bring her out to the back patio, in her hospital bed, to enjoy the weather.
As Janet closed the hospice facility’s patio door she noticed a deer and her fawn observing everything from the edge of the woods fifty feet away. Janet softly told the woman that a mother deer and her fawn want to visit. The woman very slowly moved her hand through the bedrail. Janet thought that she did this possibly to let her arm dangle in order to better feel the gentle breeze.
Janet noticed that the mother and fawn were slowly approaching. The little one continued onto the patio while the mother stayed back. The fawn, leaning against the bedrail, walked the length of the woman’s bed gently letting the woman’s hand glide along its head. Janet noticed the sleeping woman faintly smile. The fawn then scampered back to its mother. Janet stood transfixed. A moment later the woman took a deep breath, as if giving a sigh of relief, then died.
My hospice’s facility is not on a busy street. In my heart I believe that the location was Divine Intervention so that all of His creation, even a little fawn, could help comfort not only those on our hospice service, but also their families, our staff and volunteers.
Author Rick Schneider
