Grounded...for now..

In turn for devoting 20+ years of her life to the evolution of hospice care, my mother was honored this past week by the naming of the new wing of the hospice hospital building in her honor. The ‘McQueen Wing’ will stand as a testament to her determination and hard work to build that program into a statewide model and most importantly a pillar of our community. Familiar faces who have graced my family’s past came out of the woodwork to celebrate moms years of service and their kind words didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.

While my mom hated every minute of it, we enjoyed hearing speech after speech about how she has touched peoples lives and transformed the experience of death for so many. While mom has always done her work in the shadows, never inviting or accepting much praise, she was forced to face the music this week as we convened at the very place it all began and finally accepted the recognition that she deserved.

I know she won’t stay ‘retired’ for long. Her innate need to help others will manifest itself in some other form. Until then, she’ll spend her days doing crossword puzzles, folding laundry and watching daytime talk shows like she used to before god handpicked her to do his work here on the ground.