On Thursday last week I got another call from a woman seeking a mobile notary. Her father was at the local Hospice House and he needed to sign over Power of Attorney to her. I shouldn’t have been excited, but secretly I was. He was at the brand new Willard Walker Hospice House! I missed the grand opening/ribbon cutting that they had, so I was excited to get to see the new building. I had heard lots of great things about it and it has been needed here for years.
I walked inside this beautiful, quiet place. The daughter told me her dad was in room #6, but she and her husband were staying in room #4. Wow, the family had their own room! She did tell me it was only because The Willard Walker Hospice House had only been open for 6 days and they were not full, so they had the room. The daughter and her husband were here from California so it was a nice break financially for them. I went to their room first and we were going to go together to see, George.
This is what the daughter tells me to give me a little background before meeting her dad: George and his wife had both been ‘eaten up’ with lung cancer. His wife smoked 4 packs a day. George did not smoke, but the effects from 2nd hand smoke got him just as bad. His wife had died 5 days earlier (yes, DAYS). The daughter and her husband headed to Arkansas from California right then. His wife’s death caused George to have a heat attack! When the daughter arrived they told her his cancer was so far along and now that he had the heart attack that he needed to go on hospice because he didn’t have much time left.
I hear lots of horrible stories but this one is right up there!
We went to room #6 to see George. He woke up when we walked in and he sat up and shook my hand. He didn’t appear ‘sick’ at all! No IV, no oxygen, no tubes, nothing. He actually swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge of the bed with the hospital table pulled up so he could sign the papers. He was completely coherent and well aware of what he was signing. I’ve been around hospice patients before and George did not seem to fit. His daughter only wanted us to sign Power of Attorney form. She did say that they would probably have me come back in a couple weeks to get him to sign a Quitclaim Deed for his house but she didn’t have it ready and they weren’t in a hurry.
I thanked George for signing the papers and told the daughter to enjoy this time she had with her dad. I left feeling quite positive.
Sunday evening (3 days later) I had three desperate messages from the daughter, one on the office phone and two on my cell phone. She told me we needed to sign the Quitclaim Deed NOW as her father was dying tonight. I know things can take a turn for the worse, but this seemed very odd to me. I got there as quick as I could (it was 7:30 pm on Sunday evening).
Luckily, the daughter had the Power of Attorney so she could sign for her dad. The issue is that the POA that George had signed expires when he does. So, we needed to get this done while he was still alive! George was still hanging on when I got there although it didn’t even look like the same man I had seen 3 days before. He was laying down with his eyes closed, struggling to breath. This time there were more people in the room – friends & family. I get very nervous under pressure and especially at moments like these.
George opened his eyes and called for his friend to come over. I heard him ask his friend if he needed to sign more papers. Poor guy, he seemed to know that he was supposed to hang on for a reason. I told him that I was, Sue, the notary who had been there before but we assured him he didn’t need to sign any papers now. He settled back down and I proceeded to get the witnesses identifications and signatures, etc. Then George raised his hand as if to ask a question. His daughter went to be at his side and I heard her repeat, “You’re ready to go now, dad?” I started becoming very uncomfortable and nauseous. I don’t have a good record when it comes to hospital situations and staying in an upright position. I’ve passed out more than once in a hospital room! I excused myself and decided I would finish my part out at the nurse’s area where I could sit down and breath. I finished what I needed to do but I still needed the daughter to sign my book for my records. Her husband told me to go on in even though I was hesitant. I went in and the daughter was holding George’s hand and crying. I felt horrible, but she knew what I needed so she came over and signed my book. She thanked me profusely and we hugged. She said if she lived locally, she would recommend me to everyone. That was kind. I left feeling awful with a bad case of nausea which lasted the rest of the night.
I just can’t seem to get George and his daughter out of my head. I am hoping that by writing this it will take it off my mind now that it is on ‘paper’.
