“Great-uncle Joseph couldn’t do much in his last months due to dementia. He couldn’t speak, but the UCLAH staff were great with him, always chatting with him and talking with him about the LA Angels, the weather, anything that might cheer him up. Every hospice worker was great. When the social worker, Noah, came by, we didn’t know what to do with him. Joe’s affairs were all in order. And all of us were taking Joe’s illness pretty well, so felt we didn’t need much in the way of counseling. But Noah figured out that Joe was a Vet—Joe had lots of military stuff in his house—and Noah took that knowledge and ran with it. Noah found an old photo, one I had never seen before, of Joe with his unit in Korea. Joe took one look at that photo, and his eyes lit up with fire and pride.”
