For most people, Christmas is all about spending time with family, presenting gifts under the Christmas tree and enjoying a delicious meal. But for some it is also a confrontational event. Because what if you don’t have long to live and this will be your last Christmas? Hospice Het Tweede Thuis in Westerland is working hard to provide their guests, who are in the final phase of their lives, with a merry Christmas.
It is still a few days before Christmas when the cooking volunteers of Hospice Het Tweede Thuis are busy preparing the Christmas menu. The hospice has only been open since last August, so this is the first time Christmas has been celebrated there. But from the Christmas menu to the decoration: it soon becomes clear that the caregivers and volunteers work like a well-oiled machine and allow their guests to celebrate a special, and probably last, Christmas.
Each guest is allowed to invite two loved ones per day for dinner, which volunteers Berber Heutink and Machteld van der Meulen largely took care of. “On Christmas Day we had a buffet with oxtail soup made from bones, a quiche, scrambled eggs with asparagus, salmon salad, smoked fish, ragout, fresh fruit and a rhubarb pie,” says Berber.
“I think I’ll come on Christmas Day too,” jokes coordinator Esther de Kort, who then emphasizes once again how happy she is with her team of nurses and volunteers. There is 24-hour care and there are also several volunteers every day who provide support in providing care, preparing meals or maintaining the garden. In total a list of more than 100 people. And that is desperately needed, because the hospice has had a flying start.
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“We are on the map, people know where to find us,” says Esther. “We have already admitted 43 guests in those four months, so that is a lot,” says nurse Simone van Boven. The six rooms in total are therefore occupied most of the time by people who are entering the final phase of their lives. And that is sometimes short; a few days or a week, but sometimes also a few weeks to months.
The Hague
And it is not only in the Hollands Kroon area that people in their dying phase know where to find the hospice next to the Lutjestrand. “We also had a 104-year-old lady from The Hague. Her son lived in Alkmaar, so he liked having her around. She was just dreading it, because she had lived in The Hague for 68 years. But The moment she came in here and saw the room and the view, she was hooked. That’s what we get from all the guests,” says Esther.
“Here at the hospice it is not about death, but about life”
In all the hustle and bustle, the ladies sometimes manage to reflect on the first four months that the hospice has been running. “Everyone has a moment with a golden edge,” says Esther. “Yes, for me it was a stew that I had prepared for a lady and she said ‘oh boy, I finally have normal food again after all that hard spaghetti I got’. She was so happy with that,” says cooking volunteer Berber Heutink.
These special moments and pleasant atmosphere contribute to the fact that the employees and volunteers see the house as anything but a charged place where only people die. “When I come here, a kind of peace comes over me,” says Machteld as she looks around. Simone continues: “Here at the hospice it is not about death, but about life.”
And that feeling is shared by the guests and their families. A gentleman who talks from his bed about his time in the hospice can certainly confirm this. Due to a fall, he is no longer able to walk around, but he still visibly enjoys the view of the Wieringer landscape from his bed. “It is good here and very beautiful,” he says.
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And then back to the order of the day: the last napkins have to be folded and the flowers still have to be put in the vase of the Christmas decorations. The menus for both Christmases are on paper and most groceries have been ordered. In addition, there will be a piano player on Christmas Day for musical entertainment.
And of course, being together with family is central. “It is very nice for the family not to be in a sterile environment, but it really feels like home. That they can also celebrate Christmas with their loved one, even though he or she is dying,” says Machteld.
“Yet it always remains ambiguous. No matter how you look at it, we remain a hospice and people are here to die. But despite that, I think that, at the moment itself, people are intensely happy with their loved ones around them and the fact that you can celebrate one last Christmas,” Simone concludes.