Visioning:
1. the act of seeing or having a vision.
2. something seen or heard in a dream, trance, or ecstasy;
especially a supernatural event revealing truths that no one else experiences.
The silly antics of anesthesia-induced patients brings smiles to our faces. Yet with the elderly, lines blur between the natural and supernatural. While we all have a piece of God in our souls: God is especially close to our elderly. Perhaps, it's their humility from years of long-suffering. Often, God lifts His veil to reveal things, just as He did to dying martyrs. Below is just a taste--from colleagues or firsthand--of why I support elders' rights and believe that euthanasia and assisted-suicide are unnecessary.
- After freshening up a patient: bed bath, shampoo and clean gown, a widow was thankful, saying she was now ready to leave with her husband. Although he had died years ago, she said he was waiting in "that chair." Thirty minutes later, she passed.
- As a sweet grandma lay dying, she conversed with her dead father who was in the room along with her sister. The widow asked her father, "what is Vida doing here?" He explained that Vida had been killed but no one wanted to add to her suffering. The week prior, Vida died in a car accident.
- A gent with a lilting Scottish-brogue was ready for discharge saying, "Today is a beautiful day to die." He laid down for a "wee nap" before pick-up and never woke up.
- A terrified patient was grabbing at my hand when I asked her what was wrong. She said, "someone on the 2nd floor is about to die." Within 2 minutes the announcement was made: "Code Blue, 2nd floor."
- An elderly lady asked me how I was doing after my car accident. Since I took the train and didn't drive much, I said I was fine. After my shift, I was hit by a car while walking to my train.
- A sweet little old lady asked me when I was due. I was thin, so it came out of the blue. Later that week, my pregnancy test was positive.
- A dying woman screamed for hours, "get that man with the fire away from me." Nothing soothed her so we called the Chaplain. He prayed and after absolving her sins, she died peacefully in her sleep.
- A combative patient was yelling at staff, "You believe in Satan's lies!" Denials were only making it worse until a Catholic nurse said, "I rebuke all your claims in the name of Jesus Christ." She went silent and then took a nap.
- An unsafe patient required a beside-sitter overnight. I was pregnant with #2, my feet and back ached, but it was easy money. Over our shift, she knew my name, hobbies, my families' names and the date that #2 would be born. I charted it all in her medical record. Looking back, she knew #2's birthday!
- Helping an 80-year-old female into her pajamas one night, I thought to myself, wow, she looks good in pink. Immediately she said, "my mom thought so too. She always bought pink clothes for me as a child."
- There was a Code Blue in room 205 for a dying man receiving CPR. Meanwhile the lady in 206 started screaming. She said a man just walked through the wall and floated out her window. When asked to describe him, she described the man in room 205.
- An elderly lady was praying her rosary. Suddenly, she began pointing at my right breast with her crucifix saying, "cancer, look at the cancer." Best advice ever, she was absolutely right.
- A female patient described a demon in the corner saying, "and he knows about your back door, too." There is no way she could have known, but our old house had a back door with a broken lock. This topped our honey-do list.
- A patient described a man burning in the next room. Later, the hospital nun verified that a man had lit a cigarette while on oxygen and did not survive.
- Once, a British gent asked to have tea and a few biscuits brought. He winked, "I'd hate to die on an empty stomach." He passed 2 hours after tea.
- Another patient asked if we could see the angel waiting at the foot of her bed. At the close of my shift, I said, "see you tomorrow." She said no, she wouldn't be here. She died in her sleep that night.
- In the ER, a patient was describing all the people who had died in her room. She said their souls were stuck there and needed our prayers. I asked if she would like a different room. She said, "no, there will just be more trapped souls, and I already know these ones."
- A patient once said, "The demons don't speak to me when you are here." He went on to say how scared they were of me. I was wearing the green and brown scapulars.
- A 101-year-old lady was asked her longevity-secrets. She said she lived healthy. "I didn't drink or smoke. But the reward was to watch everyone die around me. So, my advice to you is, every once in a while: ditch the carrots and order the fries."
- A man of strong faith had Parkinsons. When he asked God why, God told him this. "It is for when you hold your granddaughter in your arms, it will rock her to sleep." This patient says, no one else in his family; has this gift.
I could go on, but you get the idea. God is present in: the first breath of the childless couple's new baby, the elders' sense of humor and especially, deathbed visioning. Whether birthing new life or collecting vintage souls, watching God at work spawns a wake of wonder. Let us never be afraid, interfere or alter His plan. As St Paul reminded the Philippians (4:13) we can do all things in He who strengthens us.
Mother Mary, pray for us.
Jesus, we trust in You.
