Our Stories - Life is Precious

The Final Salute
Laurel Gaudin

Jun, 2015

Story shared by Laurel Gaudin, Volunteer Coordinator, Hospice at Home:

It was my first Life is Precious (LIP) request as a volunteer coordinator. I was both excited and nervous because I had been told they had never been able to fill a LIP request like the one I had received.  The patient had not been able to speak or walk in five years, but knowing his love for music, his wife requested a signed CD or poster from AC/DC, his favorite band, Eric Clapton, or the Eagles.  I spent a morning looking up numbers and addresses for the production companies of each band online, left messages and sent out letters to each of them hoping for the best.  That afternoon a member of the Eagles management company called me and asked for an address to send an autographed Blue Ray of the History of the Eagles.  I worked with the social worker to set up a time with the family for a veteran appreciation ceremony to present our patient with the Blue Ray.

When I got to the house on Wednesday, October 1 there were several family members and close friends present, as well as Hospice at Home staff and two newspaper reporters.  We gathered in the kitchen to get ready to go into the bedroom.  Our patient’s wife went in first and told him that there was someone here to see him.  Our Lest We Forget volunteer walked in the room wearing his original WWII uniform and greeted our patient warmly.  As soon as he saw the uniform our patient began to cry.  The rest of us filed in as the Lest We Forget member introduced himself, explained why we were all there, and made the formal presentation of the certificate thanking our patient for 21 years of service in the US Navy.  When it was finished there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, especially after our patient rose his movement restricted right arm as much as he could and did his best to salute.  I presented him with the History of the Eagles Blue Ray and he cried again.  After pictures were taken the Hospice at Home staff and reporters left the room to allow our patient time with his family who promptly put the Blue Ray in the player for him to see.

The following Monday our patient died.  On Tuesday a package from AC/DC’s management came in.  It was a bittersweet moment.  I called our patient’s wife and expressed my condolences and asked if she would like to have it.  Two hours later I delivered the package to her house.  We chatted for a few minutes.  She said the previous Wednesday had been a wonderful day for her husband.  She looked over the memorabilia that AC/DC had sent and read the letter in which one of the band members, Brian Johnson, had stated he was praying for a miracle.  Our patient’s wife decided to divide the items up among their children as they shared his love for AC/DC.  She said that would be his parting gift for them.

A week later, I received an e-mail from Eric Clapton’s manager asking where she should send the autographed CD she had.  I thanked her and let her know that he had passed away.  She expressed her condolences and shared her e-mail so that any future requests request could move faster.  I was overwhelmed by the response I had received to the requests and hope that our little part in honoring our patient also helped his family a little in their time of grief.