THINKING OF HOPE AND PALLIATIVE CARE

Here I am planning, as I do every so often, a talk on hope for people who work in palliative care
And here I sit, before a computer, wondering how to approach the idea that patients, families and staff may harbour incongruous hopes
And here it is, a channel to hope that all of us can share
Named by a poet in the symbolic language of the 21st century.

From TED.com RIVES CONTROLS THE INTERNET

”Heck, if I ran the web, you could email dead people.
They would not email you back --
but you'd get an automated reply.
Their name in your inbox --
it's all you wanted anyway.
And a message saying, "Hey, it's me. I miss you.
Listen, you'll see being dead is dandy.”