Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha will take the form of a community; a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the Earth. ~Thich Nhat Hanh Dear Community Friends, If the wise Vietnamese monk’s words are true, then Buddha has already arrived in Addison County. Our 100 or so volunteers are living examples of Thich Nhat Hanh’s words. Many of our volunteers were drawn to hospice service because of their personal experiences with the death of someone they love. Many want to join the hospice movement because they have caught a glimpse into a part of life that most of us don’t pay much attention to or talk much about (or maybe they haven’t yet, but long to know more.) Some have seen that death isn’t as scary as they imagined. Many have felt that profound thing that happens when we realize that someone we love will be leaving—a sense of how precious a relationship can be when we wake up from the illusion that it will always be here. Those who have inched that close to death see life a little differently and pay closer attention to the things and people they may have taken for granted. They notice the little things—like the way the light hits the floor in the kitchen at four in the afternoon. They are attuned to subtleties, like when the look in their 95 year old grandfather’s eyes or the tone of his voice changes ever so slightly. Once you’ve brushed up against death, you notice a certain indescribable quality to life. Sort of like that sense of relief and calm that washes over you when the dawn finally comes after a long lonely night of sleeplessness and heartache—an acute aliveness and perspective that can only come from walking through it. There is an awareness of something mysterious and unexplainable— an inkling of the invisible realm that pervades all that we do and are—that part of our reality that can’t be explained or measured by human science. That thing that refuses to be defined, labeled, packaged, or commercialized, but can only be grasped by faith and trust. They believe in it because they have experienced it. That is the nature of hospice volunteers. Fellow community members whose sense of compassion comes from the best training there is: life. Having tasted its harshest and sweetest morsels they bring a kindheartedness and level of comfort and perspective that matters. The work here at HVS is community-centered and community-supported. The service of our many hospice volunteers could not happen without your sustaining support. Thank you! Sincerely, Patty Dunn Executive Director