Page 32 - Big Pharma and the Constant Gardener

hospice organization in the Chicago

area. And in a catch-up phone call

between friends, I was describing my
need for additional “best care” for my

father as his status was declining. I

did not have a clue we were anywhere

close to being eligible for hospice care,
so I had very mixed feelings about her

response. I will always be grateful for

the timing of our conversation, for her

ability to listen at so many levels, for her discerning words, and
for the wonderful hospice care which followed.

DAD’S FINAL REQUEST –

ELOQUENT LY DELIVERED

In February 2005, I found Dad wide awake after midnight, as though

waiting for my routine “rounds.” He had crafted and was eloquently

delivering to me a most important request – that of continuing to
care for Mother. As husband and father, he was articulate and

dignified in this moment: “I think the world and all of her,” he