The following is the text of a speech that Steve Monson gave at the Tee Up For Hospice fund-raising event in Lindstrom in August 2007. It is reprinted here with his permission. Our thanks to Mr. Monson for sharing his personal story.

My name is Steven Monson. I’m here to tell you about the Fairview Lakes’ hospice program from the point of view of one who continues to benefit from their services.

If someone had asked me a year ago to define the hospice program and their services, I would not have been able to give an adequate description. I truly had no idea of the depth of care they provide to the citizens of this community.

All that changed in October 2006, when doctors told my family that my wife Claudia’s cancer had become terminal. With the first phone call I had with the hospice program, I began to learn how little I truly knew of hospice and their purpose. The first thing I did learn was that we were in good hands.

One of the observations the hospice people tell us is that the process of dying and grief is a journey. For those of you who have traveled to unknown destinations, you must agree that the best journeys are those where you are not burdened with the logistics and are free to enjoy the time and journey together. The details are handled by the many people who have been there before, know what to do and use their experience to guide you best through the journey.

My wife was a travel coordinator in her early career. To make an analogy, I see the hospice program similarly, except that--while she would guide people through faraway lands--the hospice program acts as a travel agent that literally guides people on a journey through the “valley of the shadow of death.”

Let me explain why I feel this way:

When we first called Fairview Lakes’ HomeCaring & Hospice for assistance, they came immediately and lifted the burden from our family’s shoulders. We had a thousand concerns and questions, which they calmly and completely handled.

Prescriptions?... They would handle all coordination with our doctors.

Medical equipment and supplies?... Just ask, and they would get us what we needed.

Information?…They answered all our questions gently, calmly and completely!

They took charge and knew what we needed before we even asked. They told us what we would need to do and who to call. All of their efforts allowed our family to enjoy the time we had left, and they would handle the details.

On the day my wife passed away, which I call “the darkest part of the valley,” I only had to make two phone calls. The first was to Fairview Lakes’ hospice.

The hospice program’s job was not done yet. Their focus now changed from caring for a dying person to caring for the surviving family. They now had to lead the family out of the darkness of the valley, through grief, and back into the light.

What, up to this point, had been a solitary experience for our family, now turned into a group journey when we were introduced to other families who were traveling the same path. Through programs such as the Loss of Spouse Grief Support Group, Camp Triumph for youth who have lost parents, and the Growing through Loss Seminars, we now help each other out of the darkness of grief and loss. All the while, Fairview Lakes HomeCaring & Hospice is there to show us the way!

Unfortunately, everyone here will experience loss and grief sometime in their life. When the time comes, you will want this dedicated, caring, and experienced group to guide you as they did me.

To Gretchen (Kirvida) and all the Fairview Lakes’ hospice staff, who help others through this most difficult of journeys…thank-you so much!

Steven Monson