Continuing adventures of just a waiter - dealing with deaths

Working in a senior community, death is a reality of the job.  And it's never the same.  Sometimes a death is expected.  Sometimes it's a complete shock.  We had a resident that recently passed away.  She had not been with us very long, less than 2 months.  She fell and broke her hip on a Friday and left this world the next Monday.  Up to that point, she was a vibrant lady, full of personality, and a joy in our community.  Everyone loved her and her death sent shock waves through the residents and associates.  But it's just part of the job.

We have to, as associates, help people adjust to these changes.  One of our residents recently lost her husband of over 50 years.  The person she shared her life with every day was suddenly no longer there.  She's a trooper, but you can, of course, see it in her eyes sometimes how much she misses her husband.  All we can do is be there for her when she needs us.  We don't want to force ourselves on her, though.  She needs to grieve in her own way and take all the time in the world.  It's not easy, but we do what we can for her whenever she needs us.  Another resident recently lost her son and that came with both pain and relief for her, because he had been sick for a long time.  We help her through and assure her that we'll be there for her.  It's what we do.

I had someone some to the front desk yesterday to inquire about a specific resident.  She lived in our assisted living facility and was one of my favorite people.  We developed a great relationship when i worked there.  And I had to tell this person that she had passed away about 6 months ago.  That was tough.  They went to college together and hadn't seen each other in years.  She was on this side of town and wanted to drop by and check in.  Needless to say, she was stunned at the news and at the fact it had been six months and she didn't know.  That was hard to do, having to tell her this news.  But again, it is simply something we do in our jobs.

Death is a hard part of life and a hard part of the job.  If we didn't care, then it wouldn't be hard.  And, personally, I'd rather it be hard than not.  The day that death becomes easy for us, then we're not doing our jobs as we should.

That is all.