FLIGHT 111

 

I was told by a hospice nurse that 111 signifies Heaven; hence the title of this poem. 

“Sara”, eighty-one years old, has been healthy her entire life.  The only medicine she has been taking is a multi-vitamin.  Six weeks ago, she went to see her doctor because she had some stomach and side pain.  She thought it wasn’t much as the pain was mild.  After tests and blood work, she heard from her doctor that she had stomach cancer that had already metastasized.  The only treatment was palliative chemotherapy that might shrink the tumors, but the inevitable would still be the outcome. 

The hospice nurse and I met up with Sara and her son, “Donny”.  Donny said his mother has always had a positive attitude about life.  She accepts the good along with the sad.  Sara has accepted this terminal diagnosis the way she has always accepted life’s challenges.  Sara easily verbalized her emotions, her thoughts about life and her love for her family.  

Sara is very spiritual in her beliefs and easily expressed herself in such a beautiful way.  Sara and I immediately connected as her spiritual beliefs matched mine so amazingly.  The moment I received the referral, my first thought was that her name sounded familiar.  I thought that we may have had a patient with that same last name in the past. 

The moment the nurse and I walked into her home, Sara looked at me and said, “I know you.”  Neither of us could figure out where it was.  At the end of our visit, I went out to my car to bring in a few pamphlets for Sara.  I knelt down in front of her and was explaining the contents of the pamphlets, when Sara said, “Our paths have crossed before.”  I truly believe we met somewhere before in a graceful, spiritual moment.  A beautiful thought for sure.

FLIGHT 111

  

She has always been in excellent health.

Six weeks ago, all that changed.

She had some minor stomach and side pain.

She went to her doctor thinking it wasn’t much.

 

After multiple tests and blood work,

she heard what none of us want to hear;

“You have stomach cancer that has already spread.

There is some palliative treatment, but not much else.”

 

“Upon first hearing the news, I was shocked!

I heard the words the doctor was saying to me,

but did not understand the content much at all.

It felt like it was about someone else, not me.”

 

She then processed the words and easily accepted it.

“I have no regrets.  I’ve had a good life.”

Her three children quickly rallied with support,

               “I am not loved; I am beloved”.

 

She has strong spiritual beliefs.

She knows she will be going to Heaven.

She’ll be seeing her parents, her sister.

“I am packed and ready to go.”

 

“I have always loved to travel.

I’ve got my ticket; I am ready to board.

It seems like a good time to go.

I am just taking a different flight.”

               

              Flight 111.