It Comes in Threes

They say death comes in threes, and it certainly has yesterday and today.

Last night I learned that a client I have worked with for about 2-1/2 years died. This is definitely the worst part of my job--I get close to clients and their families, and then I lose them. Whenever I saw this client, he always, always asked me where I was traveling to next. We would spend a good part of any visit talking about where we had traveled, and now I won't have that to share with him. But I do have those happy memories, and that is what I cherish most about my job.

Today I learned that another older adult, someone in the community I have known for many years, died yesterday, too. I wasn't all that close to her, but she is someone I learned a lot from about aging and working with older adults. As her health failed, I saw her less frequently in a professional capacity, but more often as helper. I even recently helped her visit assisted living communities, and talked with her about her possible choices. Those of us who have worked in the aging community in Tarrant County have lost a friend and mentor.

The third death I learned about was through a facebook post from my brother, about a high school classmate. This person was a year behind me in school, but we were fairly well acquainted, although we had not seen each other since school. It's just always upsetting to learn about a contemporary's death--it reminds us of our mortality.

I hope that is it for awhile, but I guess there are at least a couple of funerals in my immediate future.