There were about 20 people in the Hospice training session on Saturday, four of which were college students. The college students were there to earn credit for community service; a part of their graduation requirements. I always think that it’s interesting when young people choose Hospice for their community service credits. I can’t say that I thought about those sorts of things at their age. I was a candy-striper for a while when I was 16, but that was because I thought I might meet cute young doctors.

About 15 minutes into training, two young people walked into the group. I’m guessing they were about 17 and 18, and were brother and sister. They walked in while we were going around the room and having people share what brought them to volunteer for Hospice. The college kids all said that they were there for the community service credits and I was expecting to hear that from the siblings. I was wrong.

The brother spoke first. He said that he was there because when his grandfather was dying, he shared a hospital room with another elderly man. He said that nobody ever came to visit that other man and it made him very sad. He went on to share that after his grandfather died, he and his sister wondered about that other man and they still think about him to this day. He said that this is why they decided to volunteer for Hospice. They wanted to do what they could to keep someone from dying alone like that man in their grandfather’s hospital room.

Wow. I was completely blown away by the compassion of this young man and his sister.

It got me to thinking about how we truly do not know the things that motivate people to do what they do. I think it’s very easy to project our own life experiences and belief systems onto people, and often we do not get the opportunity to find out how wrong we are.

I’m so glad that I got to hear what this young man was thinking. It gives me hope for the next generation.