Hospital chaplains are a tremendous blessing to patients in palliative care and their families. We have encountered two very special gentlemen in that capacity. First of all, our very own Pastor Dennis Serfas, with the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region has been a most dedicated, caring chaplain, for 15 years. Anyone who has had been in the position to require those services can attest to the fact that he goes above and beyond in his compassionate care. How difficult this profession must be! Daily helping terminally ill patients, and the people who love them, deal with the situation they find themselves in and have no control over, must take a special kind of person indeed. Pastor Joe Ball at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, was truly a Godsend for our whole family during the time Jake was in palliative care, from January 12th to March 13th. We had been told by our niece what a wonderful man he was, and that was immediately confirmed upon meeting him. His warmth and sincerity impressed us and it was apparent why he had “bonded” with our brother at this critical stage of his life. Joe Ball, in his words at the funeral, indicated that in this case, Jake knew how to live, but he wasn’t so sure how to go about dying. He appeared to be so “well” for so long, it was difficult to believe he was a dying man. His meeting with all of the family in Jake’s home the evening after his death was a huge blessing for all of us. He asked the family members to share their memories, whether good or bad, and it was a time of laughter and tears which we will all remember with great fondness. It truly allowed the grief to be present, but at the same time, ushered in the concept of celebrating Jake’s life rather than only grieving his death. None of the rest of the family had attended a church except for a wedding or funeral in many years. It was therefore very astonishing to hear many of the family say, after Joe left, “What church does he preach in. I want to go there!!!” Although being a Hospital Chaplain is a full-time job and Joe Ball does not preach on Sunday mornings in a regular church, the Good Lord surely has him in the spot where his exceptional gifts lie. Rita confirms that his calming presence helped her greatly in dealing with her loss.
And for Jake’s family, the Circle of Life continues, as on April 2, 2011, Easton Rachel, a new great grandbaby was born.
A very strange occurrence in the family the week after Jake died was grandson, Dustin’s 3 year old daughter, Brooklyn, asking her big sister to get her a pencil, whereupon she put it up above her ear, JUST LIKE HER GREAT GRANDPA JAKE ALWAYS DID in years gone by. They did not believe little Brooklyn had ever known about this habit. How did she know now???
Our own family has their own weird experience with our little granddaughter. At age 2 ½, she appeared to be having terrible nightmares in the early mornings and would wake up holding her ears and screaming: “Make it stop, make it stop”. They could not figure out what might be causing the nightmares. When asked “Make what stop?”, she finally told her Mom, “the quacking!!!”. Then Jeanie recalled that her Grampa Pugh, who had passed on before Emily was born, used to wake her up when she was that age, by quacking in her ear!!??! Gives me goosebumps just thinking about the possibilities….
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