My hospice is fundraising for new beds as per the link below:

I’m being jailed for a good cause, and need to be bailed out

Here’s the first draft of a speech I’ll be performing tomorrow at our fundraiser finale event. This story will become a chapter in the second book I’m writing. Working title – More Bedside Lessons.

If a bed could talk, what stories would it tell?

I was there when the life partnership was signed off.

I was there when the twinkle in the eye became something even brighter and shinier. I was there at the start of a new life. People begin in beds.

Nine months later a little human was born on a bed.

I was there when two became three, four, five, including one with four legs and a tail.

Special birthday celebrations began with breakfast cooked by the younger ones.

Beds are where the children sneak into when they are frightened during the night. And also the pets during a thunderstorm or Guy Fawkes Night.

For children the bed can be a trampoline, or a crash mat. The first flip of a budding gymnast. Or the first submarine of a deep sea explorer.

I keep people warm and tucked in.

What stories does the hospice bed have to tell?

I can be a place of safety, a place of refuge, I’ll make you comfortable.

I’ve enabled family members to be together, surrounding their treasured one with love.

I was there when they had their deep and meaningful conversations.

I cheered along with the family as we watched a movie together.

I’ve overheard important conversations. I was there when life-changing decisions were made.

Breakfast in bed can be a nice treat. Lunch and dinner in bed is usually only for when someone is very unwell.

I was there when the doctor helped the family to understand what was happening.

I’ve seen other family members coming to visit, those with four legs and a tail, those with two legs and two wings. All of these visitors have been welcomed even the slow moving tortoise with the wonky leg – Yes he was troubled by a reptile dysfunction.

At times I’ve had to become a toileting facility when my guest is too unwell to get up. I can also provide a comfortable place to have a bath.

The congregation can bring the church service to my guest, I welcome them.

No Joke – The Rabbi, the Imam, and the Lama are all welcome to visit my guests.

When people become more unwell they spend more time on me. I become the final resting place for many people.

In the hospice they often pull up another bed to be alongside me. They may have been together for half a century and have never slept apart. Why does that need to change at the end of life?

I was there when the elderly couple said goodnight to each other for the last time.

Hospice beds are not just a bed.

It’s a coffee date with your best friend.

It’s family meal night.

It’s where I held his hand for the last time.

It’s where we had our final conversation. It all started with a kiss, and it ended with a kiss.

Thank you for your fundraising efforts. We will get many years of service from our new hospice beds.

The beds will be put to good use, ensuring patient comfort and helping to put their loved ones at ease.

Goldilocks would approve of these beds. They are just right.

Let’s make our hospice beds as comfortable and comforting as we can.

Thank you for making a difference.

Thank you for Making Hospice Happen.