To the Water's Edge

One of the ways I think about what I do is in analogy with the Greek myth of what happens to us when we die: we go the the River Styx, where we are met by the boatman, Charon, who takes us over to the other side. What I do is, accompany people to the water's edge.
I'm not the only one, of course; all of us in hospice basically see ourselves in this same way. Maybe it is what sets us apart.
I think, for instance, it would help more doctors to see themselves as filling this role in peoples' lives. Unfortunately most docs don't want to go anywhere near that water! Yet when their patients come onto our hospice service many of them ask whether they can keep the doctors they have known thoughout their illness. We tell them of course they can-- but most doctors don't want to go there. To put their patients onto our service is effectively to discharge them from theirs.
My sense of us is, that when we know we are "goin' down to the river," we want to go in the company of those who have meant the most to us. We certainly don't want to go alone! It is always my privilege to go with-- and my task to make my way back!