Journey 2019 supports the mission of Hospice of Chattanooga
Hospice. It isn’t a word that tends to instill joy or exhilaration. The mere thought of the concept can invoke a forlorn shudder as if a bitterly cold wind swept sharply from nowhere. Uneasy and even terrifying thoughts of our own mortality creep in.
“Not me,” “Not yet,” “Not someone I love,” “Not ever.” Should this be where our preconceived notions jump? Are we hiding ourselves from discomfort?
A preconception so stark leaves little room for the miracle workers who stand guard day after day. It diminishes the humanity of the people involved with the process, at every level. And it doesn’t allow us to open our own hearts to the people that need it the most.
Hospice of Chattanooga serves 22 counties across Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. On March 9th at 6:30 p.m., the Chattanooga Convention Center will host Journey 2019. The annual event is a black-tie fundraising gala that raises financial support for the organization.
Each year the event is dedicated to raising funds for a specified program within Hospice of Chattanooga. This year, the funds will benefit Kangaroo Kidz, the region’s only pediatric and perinatal hospice and palliative care program.
Susan Latta, the Bereavement Director of Hospice of Chattanooga, shared a heartfelt story with me that does the subject justice much better than I ever could, so I’ll use her words here instead of mine. Here is what she shared with me, a story that moved me and brought this concept to the forefront of my focus, as I hope it does for you (edited for length).
“I had the honor of working with a 15-year-old girl years ago who was dying of cancer. When I visited her, we would do art projects and talk about her illness and the reality of her mortality. One day she shared that she wanted to take on the responsibility of picking out her own casket to keep her parents from being ‘too sad’. With her father, she went on the difficult journey, saving her mother form the agonizing reality of picking out a casket for her own daughter.
“She realized that it would be her last Christmas with her family. She shared the idea of creating a ‘Love Calendar’ for her family. She chose twelve pictures of different family members and assigned them each a month. She wrote a love letter to each of them and included candid photographs of that person, often with herself. Of her father, she included a picture from a previous trip to NYC with the two of them in a favorite chocolate store of his.
“I took the calendar to the copy store and, when I went to pick them up with her Mom, there wasn’t a dry eye in the store. Only her mother knew of this precious and beautiful gift. Christmas morning made beautiful memories as she shared the gift with her family.
“Each year, her Mom returns to the copy store where she remakes the calendar for the new year. I learned many things from this 15-year-old girl. She was a gift to her family and to me. She passed a few months later, but she will forever hold a place in my heart. It was an honor to be a part of her journey.”
Journey 2019 tickets are available online at journeyhoc.org. Dancing, cocktails, both silent and live auctions, dinner, and The Downtown Band will fill the evening. Support for organizations like this is at the true pulse of Chattanooga. Please make plans to support the parts of our community that may often be harder to think about, and have a lovely evening doing it.