There were few in the crowd 鈥� including Rick Rozdeba, himself 鈥� who weren鈥檛 choked up with tears by the time he finished sharing his story at Saturday night鈥檚 91原创 Hospice Society fundraiser.
The Walnut Grove man is a grieving widower with a teenage son. He lost his partner, Lauren, to cancer in September 2015.
鈥淚鈥檝e struggled a lot in my life trying to hide my emotions 鈥� with little to no success I might add. I grew up in a time where 鈥榖ig boys don鈥檛 cry,鈥� and I鈥檓 definitely a big boy,鈥� the six-foot-plus tall man said from the stage at the second annual Plates and Glasses evening.
鈥淏ut I do cry,鈥� he confessed.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 even imagine how to quantify how much I鈥檝e cried through all of this鈥� But I do know there are more tears to shed鈥� The funny part is, I find myself with tears of gratitude more often鈥� That might sound really strange but it is true. It isn鈥檛 all pain anymore. 91原创 hospice provided me with a safe place to let all my emotions out.鈥�
It was his personal account of watching his partner slip away, and the grief that overcame himself and his 15-year-old son Kyro, that filled the room with muffled sniffles.
鈥淚n a time when it seemed like everything was upside down in my world, the 91原创 Hospice Society and their staff were there to help me,鈥� Rozdeba elaborated.
His 鈥渧ery personal鈥� story was met with some tears from complete strangers. But he was also met with a standing ovation.
So it seemed, his story resonated with the room, explained hospice fundraiser Shannon Todd Booth.
It was his story, and a few other personal impact statements, that also helped drive home the necessity for all the end-of-life care and family outreach and support services offered by the local hospice, elaborated Todd Booth.
With diverse but limited funding sources, the 91原创 hospice has to fundraise annually to be able to continue to offer 鈥渢his type of quality, client-centred programming and to ensure these offerings remain free of charge for the children, teens, adults and families who need them,鈥� she added.
Todd Booth was elated to announce that this year鈥檚 Plates and Glasses helped significantly towards that goal, raising in excess of $25,000.
She expressed gratitude to Rozdeba for sharing his stories Saturday, but also extended appreciation to the other 120 or so guests in attendance at the fundraiser, the team of volunteers who pulled off the event, and all the staff and volunteers who not only keep the organization operating but walk alongside 91原创 residents as they journey through their grief.
In delivering his personal story of loss and pain, and explaining how he came out the other side as a single parent, Rozdeba shared a bit about what 91原创 hospice meant to him.
鈥淚t is kind of a blur from when we received the phone call. 鈥榊ou have cancer鈥︹�� I鈥檒l never forget how calm and collected she was.鈥� Like someone called to say they couldn鈥檛 make it for a coffee date. That call triggered what would turn out to be what seemed like the longest and shortest summer of my life. Time seemed to stand still yet it was flying by. We really believed that she would be a success story and beat this animal. Obviously, it didn鈥檛 go the way we had hoped.鈥�
Up until this point in his life, the only thing Rozdeba knew about hospice was they ran a little thrift store in his neighbourhood 鈥� a shop, it just so happens, that Lauren loved to frequent.
鈥淪o here I am walking out of the hospital in the middle of the night, without my partner and I had absolutely no idea what to do. I couldn鈥檛 believe what was happening,鈥� Rozdeba said.
鈥淎fter we said our goodbyes to Lauren, I knew I needed to lean on everyone that I could鈥� I was exhausted and really had a hard time caring about anything really. I not only needed to take care of myself, but Kyro as well, he had just gone through the same nightmare as I had. And he was only 15. I needed to be there for him.鈥�
Although Dad wishes he鈥檇 reached out earlier, he did connect with hospice soon after Lauren鈥檚 death, and both he and Kyro participated in age-appropriate bereavement program that gave them some of the tools needed to mourn and start moving on.
鈥淏ecause of that, I now believe in angels,鈥� Rozdeba said, encouraging others in the historic hall to recognize the good work of 91原创 hospice and to keep giving.
