Political Quotes

“Mr. President, both of my parents spent their final days in hospice care. My father passed away a decade and a half ago at the age of 89. My mother was in hospice care for a few weeks--seemed to be long weeks, but a few weeks--and died at 88 6\1/2\ years ago. I saw firsthand how home care workers and hospice workers make a difference in someone's final days and the comfort they bring to families. During the last moments of my mom's life, people who didn't even know her showed incredible care and kindness, and helped to bring peace to her, comfort to her, and to our family. Last week I visited in my home city of Cleveland. Only a few miles away is the hospice Western Reserve, one of the best not-for-profit hospices in the entire Midwest. I held a roundtable with a number of employees who have made a career of caring for Ohioans reaching the end of their lives. Western Reserve's core values are: compassion, excellence, quality, integrity, service, and stewardship. Each worker there--from social workers to cooks to maintenance workers to nurses--embodies these traits. They work in what some might assume to be a sad environment. Many of the patients they care for die in a matter of days or weeks. Each day they encounter not only Ohioans who are near the end of life but they spend time with family members who are preparing to grieve for a loved one. Yet Hospice of the Western Reserve is far from being a depressing workplace.…”