Hello Hello lovely to see you I must be going now

Pauline.


Pauline was genteel and lovely and lived with her husband who was trying very hard not to notice her increasingly grey color and her inability to stand at all without assistance. She was very very ill.

"Hello Hello dear. Lovely to see you thank you for coming."
yes... hello Pauline. Hello hello.

"Thank you for coming. Goodnight my dear."

Inbetween those two things was a bedtime visit.

I had seen this cancer before in others and was a little in awe of how well Pauline was managing. Truth be told I could not believe she was still so vibrantly alive.
Again my Hospice training made me believe there was something she wanted yet to do and lo and behold if one night there wasn't a visitor from afar, a long expected visit.
Pauline would stay up until my arrival at which time she would wave her hand at her friend.
"I must be going now. Goodnight my dears."
And off we would go.

Friday night her husband told me the visitor was leaving in the morning.
As I was turning out the light, Pauline deviated from her usual farewell and said,
"Hello Hello I must be going now. Lovely to see you, wonderful time, Hello I must go."

Saturday night I had a panic call from the Office asking me if I could drop by Pauline's as another Nurse there had a bit of a problem. I got there and of course she was no longer alive. The problem was the other person did not really like after-death care. Pauline lay in the bed or at least the shell she had worn was there. Grey and pale. The lips still held a little smile.

"Hello I must be going."

Goodnight and God bless, Pauline.
You were a class act.