I know from my internship experience that with the holidays and the end of the year, many people in our care die. In my internship, I worked mostly with people in hospice care. Now, the majority of my work is in a care center where I have recently been astounded by the number of deaths that have occurred. Some have been expected, but one, which happened today, was not.
I have never been one to tout that I am remarkable at self-care. However, one of the goals I have had in the past year is to listen to my body. Tonight, when I returned home from a non-stop day at the care center and a five-year-old, rambunctious client at the studio, I was tired. And sad. Normally, I like to get anything work-related done soon after I get home, but I simply could not do that tonight. I read for a little while, but then suddenly started recounting to my fiancé the memories I have of the residents I’ve known who have died in the past few weeks and months.
I am still in the process of crafting a tangible way to memorialize some of those residents with whom I worked quite a lot. Currently, I’m listing their names and dates of death. I know I have written of this subject in a past post, though in contrast to that post, I think I will close out the calendar year in some fashion by doing something to actively remember these people. I don’t want to hold on to them too long, though.
Does anyone have a good method of remembrance?