Ease, soothe and relax. Bearing these three verbs clearly in mind, and consciously applying them in my work, I try to make friends with every new inpatient, in the inevitable final phase in life’s journey.

When you approach the patient for the first time you also become acquainted with her loved ones, you try to reassure and calm them and to be close to them, knowing that this difficult moment is not yours and does not belong to you. My approach and dedication as a volunteer is always total, and it is the patient and her loved ones who fashion the relationship that I establish with them.

And as the days pass and my relationship with the patient becomes closer, my intentions remain the same, as does my determination to help, while those three verbs which sum up the sense of the word “palliative care” take the form of two-way sensations and emotions, in my dealings with every patient, regardless of their differences:

I mitigate my disappointments caused by any actions of which I cannot feel proud.

I make my spirit and my character more gentle, increasing my compassion, respect and tolerance in the way I view things.

I calm my fears when facing difficult moments and see the courage and integrity with which others face the end of their lives.

And so, to a certain extent, the person being cared for becomes me, such that helping one’s neighbour is also self-help, and this explains my gratitude to all those who have opened up a small gap in their lives to me, at the very moment in which their life is ebbing away, enabling me to share with them the end of this part of their life’s journey.