• Swimmer registration will open May 6 at 6:00 a.m.
• Boater registration will open May 13 at 9:00 a.m.

This is the 10th annual event--a real milestone! We will be celebrating the incredible success of Women Swimmin' and the amazing support of our community throughout the coming months. Keep your eyes open for more information.

Hospicare Executive Director Dale Johnson trades a handshake with visiting Tanzanian scholar Joackim Kessy.

Tanzania may seem far from Ithaca, but recently the two came together when three health scholars from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania, paid a visit to Hospicare.

The idea for the visit came from Hospicare's desire to partner with a hospice in Africa as part of a program developed by the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA). After learning about the program and how it works, Josh Swiller, Hospicare provider relations specialist, decided to reach out to Cornell University's Global Health Program, to see if they could help Hospicare contact the appropriate people in Africa.  

Serendipity intervened at this point. It just so happened three Tanzanian scholars were currently in Ithaca visiting the Global Health Program, which sends Cornell students to Moshi to study health care there.

To read more, click here. 

Photo by Ehsan Khakbaz / Foter.com

The months after the death of a loved one can be difficult, especially when at work. The following are some suggestions and advice from Kenneth J. Doka, phd, and the Hospice Foundation of America on how to deal with grief at work.

• Accept your grief: Much as you might wish, you cannot turn grief off when you come to work. Recognize that as you grieve, certain days may be easier than others. Be gentle with yourself.

• Be flexible: As you plan your own work, try to be as flexible as possible. When you experience a rough day, you may not be able to accomplish all you wished. Recognize that other days will be more positive.

• Be gentle with others: Others may feel uncomfortable, not know what to say, or even say things that seem hurtful. Understand that such comments, however insensitive, are attempts to offer help. No one will truly understand your loss or how best to help you unless you tell them.

• Seek support: One choice you have is to share your grief with others, to seek support. You may find support from empathic friends of co-workers. Others may need guidance as to how they can help. Support groups or counselors may help you understand your grief and the ways you are dealing with your loss.

• Take care of yourself: Grief is very stressful. Adequate sleep, good nutrition, and exercise are ways to build up resistance to stress. Avoid drugs or alcohol: they only delay grief and cause other difficulties.

Summer is just around the corner, and Hospicare's grounds will soon glow with the quiet beauty of Illuminations. This annual community memorial event offers a moment to stop and reflect on the lives of loved ones who are gone, and to honor their memories.

On this evening, the garden pathways at Hospicare will be lit with luminarias, each dedicated to the memory of someone who has died. The event includes live music, spoken words, candlelight on the pond and refreshments, creating a gentle time of remembrance and of coming together.

The event is free and open to the public. To learn more or to make a donation for Illuminations, click here.

Excitement is building as planning and practice continue for In the Car with Blossom and Len. Performances will be May 25-27  in the Hockett Family Recital Hall at Ithaca College. Tickets are $20--seniors and students $10.     

We are very pleased and grateful that The Homecoming Players have decided to put on this play as a benefit for Hospicare. Written by Joni Fritz and directed by Susannah Berryman, it is a heart-wrenchingly funny look at aging and a daughter's transition into caregiver and chauffeur for her two unpredictable, irrepressible, and quite delusional parents.

Playwright Joni Fritz, author of Girl's Room, has had productions of her work in several theaters in the New York area, including Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Women's Theatre Company, and What Exit Theatre. Her unique brand of comedy has bite, truth, and lasting resonance.  

To learn more or to support the event click here. Or e-mail Amanda@TheHomecomingPlayers.org.  

• Women Singin': 5/7, 5:30-7:00 p.m. 
• Evening Bereavement Support Group: 5/1 & 5/15, 5:30-7:00 PM
• Tuesday Lunch Group: 5/14, Noon 
• Wednesday Breakfast Group: 5/22, 8:30 AM
• Women Swimmin' Registration: swimmers register beginning 5/6 at 6:00 a.m., boaters register beginning 5/13 at 9:00 a.m.  
• Grief and Forgiveness: A Mother's Love for Bereaved Daughters: 5/9, 6:00-8:00 p.m.  
• In the Car with Blossom and Len: 5/25-27  
• Illuminations: 6/6, 7:30 p.m.
• How Men Grieve: 6/13, 6:00-8:00 p.m. For men only.    
• Hospicare's 30th Anniversary Celebration: 11/8, 6:00-9:00 p.m.   

For more information on any of the above groups or events, please call 607-272-0212, or visit our Events page to download a PDF of our current calendar.