記‧憶

懷玉參加全國英文作文比賽前，老師出了兩個題目給她練習，
一是Measuring Life's Worth by ______
一是A Volunteer Service Meaningful to Me
後者讓老師看了之後流淚，
老師給另一位英文老師看，她也流淚了。

雖然懷玉說裡面有部分渲染、編造的情節，
但我覺得那無礙於這篇文章之為佳作，
畢竟，對安寧療護沒有相當瞭解，不可能有這樣深刻的文意。

A Volunteer Service Meaningful to Me  一次有意義的志工經驗

  Having a mother who has been a volunteer at a local hospital for years, I am familiar with a variety of volunteer services. I have measured the blood pressure of some patients with diabetes, I have sorted out equipments used at rehabilitation unit, and I have even told some folk stories to the elder patients there in Taiwanese. However, when my mother moved to a specific unit that was in charge of palliative care, my frequency of volunteer lowered, because I thought that the unit spent most of its time dealing with death. I was only ten, and death was too much of a serious issue to talk about. Therefore, the situation remained unchanged until I turned fourteen, when I did the most meaningful volunteer service in my life.

  That year in June, my family and I noticed a poster of a birthday party held for the patients suffering from terminal cancer by the Palliative Care Unit. The Unit was asking for some entertaining acts that could be performed at the party. It was all new to me and my family, so we signed up to cover a forty-minute performing time, of course, as volunteers. We came up with an act that involved story-telling, singing, and a bit of dancing, and all were accompanied by the music I played with my violin. It took us a vast amount of time and effort to carry out the whole elaborate plan, but we all knew for whom we were going to perform and how important it might be to them.

  We spent a week rehearsing, and I was practicing playing the violin for hours every day. Moreover, I needed to remember lines in Taiwanese as I had to switch to a hosting role introducing some of our singing or dancing numbers that involved traditional Taiwanese music. There was always laughter during rehearsal because of my mistakes, but I told myself that I could see it through.

  Another week after, we were in a little room with eight other patients, some in their wheelchairs, and some on their wards, I didn’t know what to expect, so I thought I would just play along and see. The spotlight was on me when I started our performance with an old Taiwanese song. I observed the reactions of the patients as I played. It was well-received, and the song was met with weak yet nonstop applause as it came to an end. I knew that they were trying their best to show their biggest appreciation, so I took a deep bow and tried hard to suppress the tears threatening to roll down my face. For the rest of the performance, I only knew that I was consumed by waves of complicated emotions while maintaining my typical grin at the patients, from whose eyes radiating lights and excitement. They even sang to some of the songs occasionally!

  We concluded the party cutting the birthday cake and delivered it to the patients symbolically, because sadly, most of them could never taste a cake anymore. I walked up to an old woman and handed her the piece of cake with slight sorrow. She looked into my eyes, smiling, ‘Maybe it’s time to call it a day,’ she said calmly and in content. My heart brightened, and I smiled back, naively thinking that she was referring to the end of the wonderful party. The truth was, three days later, I was informed that she had passed away in her sleep. My heart was shattered upon hearing the news. My mother put a comforting hand on my shoulder and reminded me that it was I that inspired her lovely smile, and that her peaceful leaving should be the biggest reward.

  From that day, I learned that volunteering under Palliative Care Unit wasn’t just about dealing with death. It was about creating some of the best memories for the patient before they left this world. They couldn’t take along with them anything physically, but their happy memories would remain in their hearts and accompany them through the next, unknown part of their afterlife journey. I realized how lucky I was to participate in this sacred task. I felt honored to be part of someone’s last memories. This volunteer service was not only unforgettable and meaningful, but it also gave me a completely new insight into life and death.