Keys to Comfort

When Nick Fishman was a little boy, he saw an orchestra play and decided he wanted to take piano lessons. He had recently moved to Los Angeles from Russia with his family, so paying for piano lessons certainly didn’t fit the budget. But a few years later, Nick’s family moved to Kentucky.

“There my parents decided to fulfill their promise to me and start piano lessons under the assumption that I’d try it for a little bit and then give up,” Nick explained. But at 9 years old, Nick had discovered a true passion.

“You know some people run, some people write, some people read — for me, music is an important way for me to feel more at ease,” he said.

And while Nick decided not to pursue music as a career, becoming a software engineer instead, playing piano is both a way of letting go and expressing himself. His love for piano recently provided a special way for him to connect with his mother, Vera, while she stayed at Angela Hospice’s Care Center.

Vera had brain cancer that affected her long-term and short-term memory. As her illness progressed, it became more difficult for her to communicate.

“But when I sat down to play for her, I could see in her face recognition of what I was playing,” Nick said. While he loves to improvise, he chose classical pieces that he had played for his mother in the past. “She couldn’t tell me what it was,” he explained, “but it felt comfortable to her. And that was so meaningful for me, to be able to let her feel more comfort, which is what hospice is about in many ways.”

Nick and his father, Naum, both took an extended absence from work to be with Vera, spending days and evenings with her in the Care Center. “This place was a wonderful way for her to spend her last week here on earth,” Nick said of the Angela Hospice facility. “I wish that she were here sooner...everyone here was so nice and friendly, and they cared. It’s hard to imagine a better place.”

Nick demonstrated how donor support for the Care Center enables families to experience beautiful moments together. He recounted how they spent his mother’s first day at the facility: Nick playing piano for her in the Great Room, then wheeling Vera’s bed outside in the courtyard so she could experience the sunshine. He said when they came back inside, “She took an extended nap and then woke up and said something like, ‘Ah, that was incredible.’ And I said, ‘What, Mom, what was that?’... And I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or she was talking about our time together, but that memory will stay with me forever.”

Nick in front of the Angela Hospice Care Center.

Vera spent a week in the Care Center and died on July 1. A week later, Nick came back to the Care Center with his wife and spent about an hour playing piano in the Great Room in honor of his mom.

“I hope it won’t be the last time I come here,” he said. “I’m based in California...but I suspect I’ll be back to play some more.”

Listen to Nick improvising on piano in the Angela Hospice Care Center:

Nick and his parents at their U.S. citizenship naturalization ceremony.

Nick and Vera circa 2001.