Strangechord

I allowed myself a little web reading this morning before buckling down to my class reading. My weekly skim over the Sunday New York Times turned up this gem today: In Death Watch for Stranger, Becoming a Friend to the End. (login: strangechord; password: readnyt) The article is about a program that started a few years ago in NYC whereby volunteers offer companionship to the lonely and dying. The volunteers are called “doulas,” from a Greek word for women who assisted mothers with childbirth. The program is named “Doula to Accompany and Comfort.”

What is so moving about the piece is that it doesn’t just describe the program, but mostly tracks a particular story of a doula, Bill Keating, and his dying companion, Lew Grossman. This is the fascinating story of how the men’s friendship blossomed and how Grossman was able to find some peace in his last year through Keating’s visits with him. It brought me to tears. Do go read it and be touched by the simple power of reaching out and connecting.