Her name was Lana. Passed away only about an hour ago from ongoing complications from a long-term illness that basically shut-down her organs one at a time. As a hemophiliac, she had gotten a blood transfusion a long time ago and had contracted hepatitis C. Over the years, this virus essentially reeks havoc on your liver and eventually destroys it. She could have been a candidate for a liver transplant, but being a hemophiliac, she really could have died from the transplant procedure instead. So, she made the best of it…knowing what was eventually going to happen. At least she directed her kids on what she wanted to happen when this day would come.
She told them not to let anyone come and visit her at the hospital and we respected her wishes because the last time, everyone (about 2/3 of the 50+ employees and 150 DD clients that we serve) came and saw her the previous time last month when she had been there for just a few days…it drained her emotionally. I didn’t go that first time, cause I knew she was just going through a procedure to drain fluids that have accumulated in her body that the liver and kidneys couldn’t and she would return home. But this last stay at the hospital was different. Her organs were starting to shut down and her son and daughter told me that this was it and that she was in an unresponsive state. I did something selfish after I finished work yesterday…I went down to see her one last time and say a prayer. I really wanted to talk to the son first and ask permission to see her, but the nurse said he had stepped out for a while and didn’t know when he would be back. I asked the nurse if I could see her for about 3 minutes and she gave a nod of approval when I told her that I was her boss. Like I said earlier, I was being selfish.
I won’t tell you what I saw when I was in there with her, but now I know why she didn’t want to be seen by anyone. I quickly said my prayer for her and left the room and thanked the nurse for allowing me that short span of time to say goodbye.
As I left, Lana’s son (he’s about my age…early 40s) saw me in the parking lot, and I told him what I did. At first he seemed flustered that I had gone against her wishes, but he also knew some things that his mom told him about my wife, myself and her job. She told him how much she loved her job, her bosses (my wife and I) and helping the clients procure paying jobs out in the community (Lana was our employment specialist). The clients loved her unconditionally and she returned the favor. Before she worked at our company, she was one of the cooks for our local Meals On Wheels program…always caring for those who were unable to care for themselves. And she would do her jobs relentlessly, even when she was not feeling very well.
She also told her son about her “second best” vacation ever was going with my admin. staff to Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake and Yosemite NP during the Memorial Day weekend about 2 years ago. We took a raft down the Merced River in the middle of Yosemite Valley and she was in my raft with my two older sons. Even though they were being raucous, she loved it…the granite cliffs, the waterfalls on both sides of the valley, the bending of the river unfolding a new landscape of trees, rock and water.
I was also told by her son that she was really giddy on her birthday last June (she turned 65) that the best thing that she got for her birthday was a kiss on the cheek by me. I did it impromptu because she seemed at that point like a mother to me after she received her gifts from the rest of the admin. staff. At that point, the son said…“You know what, that’s alright that you went in to see her.”
Lana and I would tease each other too once I found out she came from NoCal. We would call each other “Evil NoCal” or “Evil SoCal” or just plain “Evil” when we address each other. With all of the baseball, hockey and basketball games played between the NoCal and SoCal teams, we teased each other when the other team lost. When I went to Hawaii last year, I told her that I was gonna pillage and torch her childhood home of Lahaina once I got there and I’ll have pictures to prove it. But of course I was joking and gave her pictures of her home town that she hadn’t seen in decades and she was beaming when she saw them.
Yeah, this one really hurts because Lana was one of my administrative staff members who’s been with us for about 9 years or so. She was one of our matriarchs, she was someone I can have fun with and she would poke right back at me regardless of the age difference. Those are the kind of folks you wish that would live forever. Goodbye Lana, and be comforted by God.