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Hospice worker helps 92-year-old patient fulfill 'bucket list wish'
Photo courtesy of Sue Justice - Loma McGuffey, 92, of Blue Ridge, gets in a necessary EMS van before attending an Oct. 20 family reunion. A hospice worker and volunteers made the trip happen for McGuffey, who lives at the Redbud House in McKinney.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
Loma McGuffey didn't have a typical bucket list. Her biggest wish she'd done dozens of times.
At age 92, the Redbud House resident wanted to attend a family reunion.
"She was talking to me and broke into tears," said Sue Justice, a hospice coordinator who cares for McGuffey. "She said how wonderful it'd be if she could see her whole family one last time."
McGuffey is the last of Ema and V.V. Kurley's five children, and descendants planned to link up this month at her niece Sharon Box's house in Blue Ridge. All connected families in the Dallas area were coming, as was McGuffey's son, A.T., from California.
Her daughter Donna Green told Justice the plan, who could sense McGuffey's growing disappointment. With an oxygen tank and quickly declining health - she's been told she has less than six months to live - McGuffey couldn't travel in a normal vehicle.
"We needed special transportation for her, and we had to get help," Justice said.
Justice, a longtime Farmersville resident who now lives in McKinney, started working with Hospice Select in June. They provide specialized care for patients like McGuffey, in senior living homes and private residences around the area.
Justice has worked in senior industry management for more than 20 years. "My heart has always been with seniors," she said. Instead of retiring as planned, she began part-time with Hospice Select, and quickly advanced to regional community liaison.
Talking with McGuffey, seeing patients' children visit them once a month, if that, bothered Justice. She thought about "Bucket List," a 2007 movie that chronicles two terminally ill patients' final days of must-do living.
As simple as McGuffey's "must-do" seemed, it took teamwork and determination, largely on Justice's part. Star Plus, a transport service, wanted $300 for the trip from Redbud to Blue Ridge.
Justice, who said she'd pay out of pocket if necessary, called Hospice Select's corporate office and got in touch with Elite EMS, the transportation company with which they have a contract. They would do the trip for free.
A nurse and assistant volunteered their time for the occasion. "Something like this gives people a little more purpose, brightens their day a little bit," said Martina Suhling, a nurse at Redbud House.
On Saturday morning, Oct. 20, the crew wheeled McGuffey into the Elite van and took her to the reunion. "She was as happy as a girl going to her senior prom," Justice said.
The nurse and EMS crew stayed on hand for the reunion, ensuring a safe celebration for the woman of the day. "When they returned, she looked 15 years younger," Justice said.
"It was incredibly nice what they did," Suhling said. "It's not something you see every day."
Maybe not, but Justice is looking to up the frequency. She considers the reunion trip "only the first of many wish lists I hope to make come true."
For her and those she helps, round-the-clock assistance isn't always enough. They have wishes.
And list or not, they deserve at least one more.
"Anytime I can do something like this, I'm going to do it," Justice said. "I don't care if they're one of my patients, I'm going to do it. It's important."
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