Hospice House 2.0

Hospice House 2.0 Close to Home Hospice inpatient services have been suspended.

Please share your experiences with inpatient services so the CCH board of Trustees understand how important this facility is to our community.

05/28/2025

“What happens when we die?”

This is a question I am asked often. I think that we each have our own thoughts and beliefs about this and should not tell someone else how to think or feel about it.

I believe people with a strong faith have a deep sense of confidence in what happens and where they will go. I believe people who do not have a strong faith practice have more curiosity and uncertainty. I also believe that there are people who feel that when their last breath is taken, life is over, and nothing else happens, and you don’t go anywhere or see anyone.

I cannot tell someone else what to think or feel, and I never will.

I would like to believe that wherever I go, if I am to go somewhere, it will be where the people I love who have died will be, and we can meet again. I often say, “where I go, they will be.” This comforts me. I would also like to believe that I will see my favorite pets again, who I continue to grieve for.

One thing I am absolutely certain of, because of what I have witnessed at the bedside… moments before the last breath is taken, there is this sense of peace that comes over them, a calmness, perhaps relief, and the complete removal of pain, or suffering… but also everything else they have carried with them that causes struggle… fear, regret, guilt, anger, and sadness. It goes with the last breath and all suffering physically, emotionally, or mentally, is gone.

I do not believe that we will be punished for things we have said or done after death, because I believe that when the last breath is taken, all of that is gone. I think we do enough of that to ourselves when we are alive. It is why I am working so hard to let things go… I do not want to spend the rest of my life dragging that weight around with me. I have made mistakes, I am human, but I have learned from them and will do differently and better moving forward.

I believe that when I die, I will be at peace. And I will take with me the feeling that I lived my life well, that I did the best that I could, and those who were in my life know how deeply loved they were by me. And if I happen to go somewhere and see the people I love who have died, or even my dog Jack, that is a bonus. And if not… that’s okay too, because I was gifted them when I was alive.

I think I would rather focus on my life now; being alive, appreciating all my blessings, finding joy in every single thing, feeling love, experiencing new things, savoring each moment, and even one day falling in love. For me, it is not “what happens when we die?” For me… it is, “How will I appreciate each day I am alive?”

xo
Gabby

You can find this blog here:
https://www.thehospiceheart.net/post/what-happens-when-we-die

05/21/2025

Things I hear often…

“My mom started hospice and she died.”
“When you start hospice they give you morphine and you die.”
“Hospice is a death sentence.”

I am a hospice nurse, and I can only speak for myself, and how I provide care. My goal is to be there for both the patient and family, to truly listen to them about what they need and what matters most to them, and let them know that they have been heard, and to remove symptoms that are causing suffering of any kind.

If someone has been given a diagnosis with six months or less to live, they are already dying. Starting hospice will not speed up the process. Starting hospice can sometimes give you a little more time, simply by reducing pain and suffering. It doesn’t always happen, but sometimes it does.

I always want people to start hospice sooner because I truly believe their end of life journey will be gentler, and those who are preparing to say goodbye will have the tools, resources, and support that they need to be there for the person they love, knowing that they are not doing this alone.

My goal with my blogs, classes, books, and social media posts is to help educate about death and dying in such a way that it removes fear and uncertainty, and offers tools and resources to anyone who is dying or providing care for someone who is dying. I want to help improve the way people are cared for when they die, and when they grieve.

❤️
xo
Gabby
www.thehospiceheart.net

Here is a blog I wrote about hospice and what it offers:
https://www.thehospiceheart.net/post/hospice-is-not-a-diagnosis-it-is-a-plan-of-care-for-the-diagnosis

Here is a link to my hospice master class, which Is packed full of very valuable information:
https://www.thehospiceheart.net/masterclass

Here is a link to my book “End of Life Tips”:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Tips-Gabrielle-Elise-Jimenez/dp/B0C9G8PZZ5

03/10/2025

“Gabby, what do you think happens with our regret and guilt when we die, do we take it with us?”

The woman who asked me this question was worried that she would have to take all of her past mistakes and bad choices with her when she died. She couldn’t make peace with dying until she was certain that she would not be punished after her death the way she punished herself with it her whole life.

I did a special candlelighting ritual with her, offering forgiveness of self, helping her to release everything she had carried with her for so many years. I told her that I believe that when you die, you don’t take all of that with you, and it is forgiven. She needed to hear that, but more than that, she needed to believe it.

After the candlelighting ritual, I watched her take a deep breath and release it slowly as though everything she was feeling left with that breath.

I went to see her the next day and she told me she was ready to die. She thanked me for the ritual, and for sharing my thoughts on what I think happens after we die. She looked at me and said, “I have let it all go… thank you.”
She died four hours later.

I am not speaking for everyone when I share what I believe, and I would never force my beliefs on someone, but sometimes people need permission to let things go and give themselves some grace... so they can die in peace.

xo
Gabby
www.thehospiceheart.net

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Gillette, WY

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