Hospice Client Waited for Care Pro Diane to Say Final Goodbye
The 93-year-old hospice client anxiously had waited for Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Diane Marshall to return from her home state of Michigan, where she had long ago planned to travel for her birthday. The highly anticipated trip lasted from late July to early August, but the client told others he wasn’t sure he could wait much longer.
Recalling the end to a six-month Care Pro-client connection, Diane poignantly explained: “He waited for me to return so he could die. He had not wanted me to go, but he understood and said he’d hold on. I returned on a Tuesday, and he passed away on a Thursday night. When I returned, he told me, ‘I’m glad to see you, but I am tired. My family and friends will miss me, but I want people to let me go.’ I told him, ‘I understand. I wanted the chance to say goodbye.’ I gave him a hug and left at 8 p.m. At 10, I got the call he had died.”
While no one could have predicted when her client would pass away, he did not die alone. His children all came to see him, and they took turns visiting. Diane said, “I thanked my client’s family for allowing me to take care of their loved one. He seldom was concerned about himself. I remember when I had a sore leg, and he was worried more about me and not himself.”
Diane emphatically pointed out, “I care about people more than thinking of them as clients. I love my job. Whenever I have worked with someone, I have formed a bond. They are like family to me. I treat them as if I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes.”
Diane is not unfamiliar with tragedy. Her husband passed away in 2020, and her mother-in-law died a year later. Feeling the need to start afresh, Diane moved to Florida two years ago. In August 2022, she interviewed with Home Instead of Clearwater, an award-winning franchise owned by Julie Castle and also guided by Franchise Vice President Colin Castle.
Home Instead has proved to be a great job fit for Diane because of her previous work experiences. In 1998, she started with Rainbow Rehabilitation Center, serving people with brain and spinal-cord injuries. “I retired after 22 years there when my husband died. Previously, I had worked at St. Vincent and Sarah Fishers Center for seven years with children. I helped troubled children at the school. I was usually calm and quiet, and I always tried to come up with a solution when I met a challenge. I had students who needed a hug and attention. Years later, when I was bowling one day, some of my former students, now adults, came over and talked. That’s when I realized what an impact I had made,” Diane said.
She added: “In other jobs, I had worked in healthcare during night shifts for two years. I also had my own daycare business when my four children were younger. Generally speaking, I love working with people – both young and old. I enjoy being able to help others. You never know what your niche in life is, and I found mine.”
Diane admitted that a caregiving career – helping young or old – is not a journey without its bumps and potholes. “It helps if you don’t take offense when someone becomes challenging. If someone is having a bad day, I give him or her a smile and a hug. When I can put a smile on someone’s face, it brings me joy. I am a hug-a-tree kind of person. I am outgoing and talk to strangers in the grocery store. Sometimes you can see the loneliness on their faces,” Diane said.
She has a philosophy about understanding her Home Instead clients: “I put myself in my clients’ shoes. When you’ve been able to take care of yourself during your entire life and then quite suddenly you can’t, it is frustrating and even humbling. I have prayed before I’ve come to help clients and then after I have left my shifts. I thank the Lord for giving me patience and extending the greatest measures of grace. My clients will never know if I am having an unhappy day. I don’t show any kind of negativity when I am with them.”
Diane recalled a client who had dementia and had not spoken English as her first language. “When the client’s dementia became more profound, she reverted exclusively to her native language. I made do, because I had been with her for a while. You can read facial expressions and body language. I also had a Google translator so I could understand,” Diane explained. “I assist a 99-year-old man from Wednesday through Friday. He remembers a lot, but he is a little hard of hearing and his eyesight isn’t what it once was. But he is a joy There’s no way you can’t get attached to your seniors.”
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (727) 799-1400 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
