It’s amazing what can be done with technology now, isn’t it? My friend and I both lost a parent in the past week, and we both had an opportunity to improve the experience and create positive memories to cherish in the years to come using a little technology. Let me tell you our stories…
My mom had decided it was time to move from her apartment to a higher level of care before she went into hospital. So, we had started clearing out her apartment when her health really started to fail, and old photo albums had already been pulled from their hiding places. When she moved from ICU to palliative care, the grandchildren came to visit and say their good-byes. They helped to clear out her apartment, too, and found the stack of albums.
They were fascinated by old photos of my mom and dad in their younger days – in a park, on their wedding day, on a motorcycle! – and with another album of a wonderful garden party my mother had thrown years ago. They scanned several of the photos using their cell phones and were able to put the photos up on the large TV in my mother’s room wirelessly from their phones, with the aid of a small piece of equipment (essentially a wire with a USB on one end and an HDMI plug on the other). Not wanting to overtire her, they showed the older photos one afternoon and the garden party the next. She smiled often, making a few comments as her energy allowed, and we could tell she really enjoyed sharing the memories and seeing the friends and family who had attended the party again.
And, not only did this make her last days more pleasant, it created positive memories for us and helped us to create some happiness in a sad place. I wanted to pass along this experience, in hopes that someone else might be able to recreate something similar should they find themselves in a comparable situation.
My friend, holding vigil with her dad, helped to create a feeling of inclusion for her siblings who were not able to be there. Using video conferencing, she was able to share her father’s last moments with them, gaining their support and avoiding any potential future regrets of “not being there”. It's thoughtful and caring that most hospitals make Wifi available for patients and their families now...
Losing a parent is one of the most difficult passages in our lives. It is wonderful when we can use technology to make challenging times easier and more positive, bringing families closer together.
