Justin Eades didn't believe in soulmates...until he met Noelle Mayer.      It was June 17, 2018, and Justin and his family were at the Angela Hospice Care Center where his aunt Rebecca was being admitted. Just down the hall, Noelle was with her grandmother, Viola DeFelice, for their Tuesday night tradition, watching America's Got Talent .      After six months of visiting her grandmother nearly every day, the Care Center felt like home to Noelle. She remembers she was wearing sweatpants that day and had thrown her hair up in a bun, but Justin thought she was adorable.      "She was very noticeable," Justin said. "Very cute, very rushed." Plus her grandmother kept yelling her name whenever Noelle would leave the room.      "It wasn't appropriate for me to be like, 'Hey, can I get your number?' I don't even think she would have heard me," Justin said. "She was like the Energizer bunny every time she wal...

Sometimes the unimaginable happens. As a single mom, 44-year-old Carrie was used to a life of struggles, yet she seemed to get through them all with an inner strength. Call it perseverance – or maybe stubbornness – but Carrie did not give up easily.  Carrie worked hard to provide for her daughter. She was independent, but devoted herself to taking care of others. Maybe that’s why it was easy for her to overlook her own needs. So a seemingly harmless wound on her leg felt like a minor issue, not something she needed to get checked right away. What she never would have guessed is how that one decision would change her life forever. On October 28, 2015, Carrie went to bed fatigued, with a fever and chills, hoping to sleep off what she thought was the flu. But she was about to begin a traumatic journey.  Awaking in a delusion, without a sense of place or time, Carrie was rushed to the hospital. She would be flown to the nearest trauma center for emergency surger...

The two rooms are right next to each other and we enter the one on the left first, Shirley Potts leading the way. There’s something instantly likeable about her, maybe it’s her warm smile or the fact that she’s a self-described “hugger.” When she introduces me to her mom, Mary Mitchell, rather loudly (she’s hard of hearing), her mom smiles back, and so do I. Shirley shows off the clothes and jewelry box her mom had her bring from home, the rings glistening off the light when she opens the box. Her mom has always been stylish and being a hospice patient wasn’t about to stop that.  Now her rings, which sparkle off her fingers , just go with a patient gown instead. Mary’s jewelry isn’t the only thing familiar to her in the Angela Hospice Care Center though. Her son and one of Shirley’s brothers, Lawrence, is a patient in the room next door. “To have them here is a sense of relief,” Shirley said. “I know that they’re taken care of if I can’t just run down here.” It’...

Over the last 13 months Sarah Wiggins has learned a lot about hospice, but the most important thing wasn’t about procedures or medication; it was to be kind to herself. “There’s this self-doubt that you have,” Sarah said. “Am I doing the right thing for my mom? And they [hospice] have the ability, because they are a step back and look at the bigger picture, and say, ‘Yes, you’re doing the right thing.’” Nancy (right) and her grandchildren, Travis and Michelle. Sarah went through this struggle twice in the last year; first with her dad in December 2014, and then with her mom the following December. Her dad had gone into the hospital on a Monday because he was dizzy and disoriented. He was also extremely agitated and his health was declining. His conditioned worsened, and a few days later, doctors asked Sarah if she had thought about palliative care for him. “I said, ‘I want him to go. I want him to be with God,’” she said. “He wasn’t himself because he was so ag...

Being cared for in the comfort of home is one of the many benefits of home hospice care. But for those residing in the Angela Hospice Care Center, the Care Center can become a comfortable home away from home as well. Our volunteers seek to make the holidays memorable by creating special opportunities for patients and families to come together and experience holiday festivities – such as Thanksgiving supper at the Care Center. Patient Jean Henegar was able to attend with six of her family members. While Jean is bed-bound, her nurses were able to wheel her bed right into the Day Room, and found her a spot where she could see the whole room – and all 91 of the other guests! Jean’s daughter, Patti Wert, saw how much it brightened her mother’s spirit. Jean Henegar’s family was happy to be able to attend Thanksgiving dinner with her at the Care Center. “It meant so much to her,” Patti said. She said Jean’s appetite improved and she was happy to be able to spend the holiday with her f...