There wasn’t one specific moment that I decided to write this book but more a collection of remarkable Hospice stories that very much needed to be shared.

Although this book honors the patients, families and the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team (better known as the IDT) for their caring and dedication, the central theme is the importance of time and life lessons. Although Hospice is the final stage of an individual’s life journey, this book is neither focused on death nor on the dying process. This is a book about how to live until the end of our lives with meaning. The individuals on these pages offer extraordinary life lessons, which serve as a legacy for all of us.

Choosing Hospice isn’t about giving up but the heart and soul of living. If we’re open to the world around us, we can learn a lesson from everyone every day in some way. The patients and their families introduced in these pages prove that truth. Woven into their stories are examples of deep and abiding love, wisdom, humor, traditions, honor, friendships, resilience, zest, courage, respect, generosity, spirit, compassion, pride…………… and I am just the messenger.