During the days of tending your loved one, you are constantly engaged.  Doctors, health agencies, pharmacists, family and friends are all involved in the work you must do.

But who do you talk to when you’re suddenly feeling overwhelmed or dismayed?  Or when you need respite care?

Or perhaps, like me, those days are over.  And like me, you may suddenly find those days that were filled with innumerable tasks suddenly stretch before you in an endless array of emptiness.

Everything is quiet and still and you begin to feel the pain.  Where do you turn for help?

Thrift shops have always been a mecca for me when I’m down–looking over the items seems to help me focus on something other than my present state.  One day when I was in the White Rock Hospice Thrift Shop, I mentioned to the clerk that I was trying to find a source of grief counselling.

At once she said that the Hospice Society provided such a service.  She handed me a pamphlet with a list of all the services they provide.  I was surprised to see that these included bereavement walks, as well as grief counselling individually or in groups.

The best part?  It was all free!

For caregivers the hospice societies offer many services including counselling for both the family and the patient.  They also act as a resource centre offering information about services they and others provide, including respite care, one on one support and palliative care.

So if you’re looking for any of these services just Google your community hospice society or head on out to your local hospice thrift shop.

Once I found the hospice services, I no longer felt alone in my grief.  And I’ve found it easier to situate myself in my new reality.

mf