A Hand To Hold
By: Kate McNamara, Angela Hospice Volunteer
As she sat down to talk about her experiences as an Angela
Hospice volunteer, Judi Fortuna smiled in the direction of her grandsons,
seated at a nearby table in the food court.
Judi has been a volunteer at Angela Hospice for over 11 years. She
works in the bereavement department making calls to family members 10 days and
15 days after their loss of a loved one to offer support and services, and most
of all, to let them know she and Angela Hospice remember and care. She helps
with the memorial services held at the Care Center and has worked at the Walk
of Remembrance. On Friday afternoons, she’s at the Care Center helping patients
with meal assistance.
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| Judi speaking at a memorial service. |
Judi is a Patient Services Coordinator with ALS of Michigan. Her
father received hospice care at the end of his life so she knew its value. Her
work with ALS patients prompted her to want to learn more about hospice. So,
she made her way to Angela Hospice and became a volunteer.
“It is an honor to be with people at the end of life, to help
their families, to hold their hands. It‘s very humbling,” said Judi.
She commented that it’s common in our culture to be fearful of
death. But, she said, “We’re all terminal. The quality of fear doesn’t need to
be there.”
At Angela Hospice, she has observed what honestly and
compassionately facing the issue of death can mean. She has seen families pull
together. She has seen how people can “die gracefully and peacefully.”
Judi’s own family has borne the sorrow and challenges of the
terminal illness of her niece, a young mother. Her time at Angela Hospice gave
Judi the practical ability to be a source of help and information for her niece
and their entire family. She assisted her niece with medical, emotional and
spiritual issues. Experience taught her that hospice can bring peace to
patients and their families and she is grateful she was able to impart that to
her own.
For people unfamiliar with Angela Hospice, Judi talks about the
staff and describes them as “the most compassionate, caring, understanding
people. They are in the right work.”
Between her own work with ALS of Michigan and volunteering at
Angela Hospice, being married to Ron, being mother to adult children Renee and
Bret as well as a grandmother, Judi is happy to find time to exercise, meet
with friends, entertain, and travel.
When asked if she has a motto, she doesn’t hesitate before
replying: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
As she prepared to rejoin her grandsons, Judi reflected, “When I
decided to volunteer, I wasn’t sure if it was right for me. But after 11 plus
years, it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. It is so nice to know you
can make a difference in people’s lives.”
Angela Hospice is blessed to have among its volunteers, Judi
Fortuna, who simply says that in life, “I like to help people whatever way I
can.” And she does.
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