I got a call from the Hospice bereavement counselor yesterday. She asked me if I'd be willing to train new volunteers on making grief and bereavement calls.

This is a huge honor. I've only been making solo calls for a couple of months, and now they want me to train new volunteers.

Wow.

She said that I take meticulous notes and can tell by the notes that I take that I have meaningful conversations with the people that I call. Yep I do and I do. I was glad that she didn't comment on my sloppy writing.

She wants new volunteers to listen to me make calls and show them how to document a file. Having people listen in to my calls feels rather invasive to me but I know that it's helpful to hear how these calls go because making calls like this can be intimidating. I still get intimidated every once in a while when I read some of the case file notes. I've taught myself to take deep breaths and acknowledge that if I'm not meant to make that call, then the person on the other end of the phone won't pick up.

There are calls that I won't make, but that's only happened twice. For example, I saw in the case file that the wife of the patient had early onset alzheimers. I didn't feel equipped to handle a conversation with someone who may not remember that her husband was dead, or even that she had a husband. I felt that this call was better left to a counselor.

I am glad that I have been given the 'permission' to only do what is comfortable to me. Although there have been very few situations that have caused me anxiety, it's nice to know that I have no reason to fear any situation. I hope that I will be able to pass this assurance on to others who want to volunteer.

I'm really excited about this.