Edith's Legacy

Alice Shatner clocked in for her shift at the small rural hospital where she has worked for the past fifteen years. She walked to the ER to get report from the day nurse, Margo Clemons. " We have all five carts full, the ambulance is out, and there is a bag lady in the waiting room who should be up next. Cart two is a GI bleed who has been puking blood for two days, and is waiting to be transferred to med/surg. Cart three is a three-year-old with an ear infection waiting to be seen by the doctor, Four is all set. He just needs to sign his discharge instructions and you can wave good-bye.

Margo handed the keys to Alice, and they counted the contents of the narc drawer to assure all the controlled substances could be accounted for. As soon as Alice discharged the patient on cart four and readied the unit for the next patient, the ambulance called in report. "This is a sixty-two year old male who has been having chest pain for an hour, no previous history, we are on our way to Capital Regional Hospital.

Alice remembered the bag lady waiting in the lobby, and went to see her. She was a small elderly woman who smelled, and needed a bath. Alice apologized for the long delay, and explained why it happened. The bag lady, whose name was Edith Young, remained cheerful as Alice helped her onto a cart.

Edith was clutching a large worn handbag to her chest, and would not release her grip on it. She explained to Alice, "I have been having trouble breathing. It's so bad, I can't lay down." Her feet and legs were swollen with excess fluid, and she could barely walk.

The doctor wrote her admission orders, and since the ER was now empty, Alice took Edith to her room herself. "How would you like a nice warm shower before you go to bed?" said Alice.

"That would be wonderful. I don't have a shower at home." Alice seated her on a shower chair and gently sprayed her all over, soaped her up, and sprayed her again. "That feels so good. said Edith. "I feel better already."

Alice paid a short visit to Edith every morning before she went home. She learned that Edith and her now-deceased husband operated a large farm with their son. There was a tragic accident when her son slipped and fell into the grain bin. Her husband went in after him to save his son, but both perished when he weight of the grain suffocated them. Edith was forced to sell the farm since she couldn't operate it herself.

"I couldn't stand the idea of going to one of those retirement homes. I have always been a country girl, so I found a place nobody else wanted. It used to be a hen house. It has a water pump outside the door, and tiny stove in which I can burn wood ."

Situations like this came up once in a while, and the hospital social worker handled them. The nursing staff was reluctant to turn her case over to social service knowing Edith wanted to return to her hen house.

After a week of treatment, Edith did not improve. It was apparent that she was at the end of her life. She confronted her doctor, "My heart is all wore out, isn't it?"

"Yes, there is not much left we can do for you, said Dr. Grant. I need to ask you some hard questions. When you quit breathing on your own, do want us to put you on a machine? Do you want us to perform CPR on you?"

"No, none of that, I have lived long enough, no machines."

"Alright then, I will write that in your chart."

Two days later, the nurse caring for Edith called Alice , "Is the ER busy?"

"No, we are just cleaning up down here, why?"

"Edith wants to talk to you when you are finished."

Edith was still awake when Alice went to her room. She looked bad. Her fingertips were blue in spite of oxygen treatment, and she could hardly breathe or talk. "I need to tell you something, said Edith as she opened her oversized handbag, and revealed a pile of cash and a small black notebook. "This is all I have left from selling the farm. I hope it will be enough to pay my bill here", she paused to catch her breath, also to pay for my burying." She opened the small black notebook, "In here is the name of the mortician with whom I made arrangements. He buried my husband and son. Keep this for me until the time comes."

Alice put the money in the hospital safe until after Edith's death. Nobody knew what to do with it until the hospital lawyer came up with an idea. "Edith was homeless, right? It should be used to help the homeless. The hospital can wave her bill, and use the money to start a fund to build some of those tiny houses. When a patient is found to be homeless, we can offer one of them.

Edith's story was posted in the local newspaper, and donations poured in. A row consisting of eight tiny houses was build on donated private property. A sign was erected saying, " Donated In The Memory of Edith Young "