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Caring for Our Tiniest Patients (Part II)

Humanity is a bridge that builds itself from both ends. When our patients lose their baby, their lives are forever changed by their grief. The volunteers reach out to form that bridge to help the patients to their new existence. Dr. P, American internal medicine physician I will hold you in my heart until I

Caring for Our Tiniest Patients (Part I)

Life is an opportunity to contribute love in your own way. Love, Medicine, & Miracles by Bernie Siegel, MD, American author, retired pediatric surgeon Dr. Joyce Merrigan is the Clinical Specialist and Perinatal Bereavement Coordinator at Capital Health, Hopewell, NJ. She has provided bereavement care to women and their families since 2001. In this blog, I want to inform you

Sharing Our Passion (Part II)

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life, that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet As promised last week, I’m continuing the theme of sharing our skills and talents, passing them generation to generation. I also mentioned I would show photos of

Sharing Our Passion (Part I)

Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day; teach a man to fish,and he’ll feed himself for the rest of his life. Chinese Buddhist Proverb One of the most beautiful and significant aspects of our program was the gifting of our handmade items to our family, friends, and many people we never met, through the generations. A major

Challah and Comfort

“Human greatness doesn’t lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.” Anne Frank, German-born Dutch-Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim In May of 2008, Iris’s granddaughter Ruby was born at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Sadly, Ruby was never able to leave the hospital and died four months later. Iris and her family were

​little things…BIG DIFFERENCE

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” Marian Wright Edelman, American activist for children’s rights and author Imagine for a minute you’re a hospital patient. Perhaps

You’re Allowed to Ask Why

“The silver lining to Harry’s ordeal, was the development of the Healing Environments Program, the true stories I and my volunteers collected during more than nine years the program operated.” When my dear Father-in-Love, Harry, was diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2000, our family was devastated. Why? Why should this warm, caring, compassionate person

Aunt Betty

“The heart of a volunteer is never measured in size, but by the depth ofcommitment to make a difference in the lives of others.”  DeAnn Hollis This quote expresses the core intentions of volunteers, their devotion to spreading positivity by whatever means they have at their disposal. Aunt Betty was such a person. When I knew her, she was

A Life of Service and Compassion: How Spiritual Cre Plays a Role in Healing

Photo courtesy of Nat Clymer The memory of righteousness is a blessing. Proverbs 10:7 Living a life of spiritual service is not easily understood by many. Nor can it always be succinctly explained by the amazing people who choose such a life. But their very presence in the world makes an important difference. The modern St. Mary

Music Therapy: Touching an Inner Chord

Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind, and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul. Author Unknown During the holiday season in 2022, I wrote about “Angelo’s Harp.”  Angelo De Lorenzo was a chaplain at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, PA.  He was also a talented harpist.