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Lucky 13th on August 13

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Women Swimmin’ 2016

The 13th Annual Women Swimmin’ for Hospicare took place on Saturday, August 13, 2016—and luck was smiling down on us! The morning was warm and muggy, but rains held off until late in the day and the lake was calm for our swimmers. After gathering at Cass Park Rink at dawn, 320 swimmers took buses to the east shore so they could wade into Cayuga Lake and swim across to the Ithaca Yacht Club. The women were escorted by 170 boaters and cheered on by two volunteers floating near the east shore in a giant inflatable ducky and a flamingo. As the swimmers emerged from the lake, their friends, family members and hundreds of people from the community were there to greet them and celebrate their success.

Again this year, additional swimmers participated in Women Swimmin’ Laps for Hospicare, swimming a distance they chose, in the pool of their choice with a certified lifeguard. Nineteen swimmers took part in Women Swimmin’ Laps and their combined goals totaled more than 200 miles. Several of our Laps swimmers were on-hand at Cass Park or the Ithaca Yacht Club to cheer on their lake swimmin’ sisters.

We wish to thank everyone who gave their time, talents and money to support this event, including about 140 volunteers who provided support on shore and in the days leading up to the swim. We also extend a special thanks to our corporate sponsors. They covered all event expenses, so that the money raised by swimmers and boaters will go toward patient and family services. Their generosity, and the generosity of all our event donors and supporters, allows us to keep our promise to provide end-of-life care and bereavement support to anyone in our community who needs our help.

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Finding Comfort In Everyday Things

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When a Mother Dies

Three months after I started working at Hospicare my mother died of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. I thought I would be prepared for her death. After all, I had been grieving the loss of her for years. It had been a while since she had recognized me and even longer since she had remembered a birthday or initiated contact. But I was not prepared.

A friend whose parent had died of dementia told me, after death, memories of the disease fade and recollections of the person as she was resurface. I was skeptical, but I have realized that my friend’s insight is true. Now that I’m not confronted by the stark reality of my mother’s Alzheimer’s, in my mind’s eye she is the younger, alert, capable and loving woman she always had been. That has eased the loss of her.

I have found comfort in small everyday things: wearing jewelry that was hers, making a favorite family recipe. On her birthday and the anniversary of her death, I wear her favorite color, blue. Mother’s Day is still tough for me. While she was alive I could still reach out and connect on some level. But now Mother’s Day is a hard-to-avoid reminder that I no longer have a mother. I have found ways to cope. Hospicare’s grief support group provided an outlet for my grief and let me know I’m not alone. And every May since my mother’s death I get blue hair extensions. Mom would probably have been horrified by them. But for me the extensions have become a fun way to remember her on Mother’s Day.