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Tomaso and Mr. Burton’s Family
Tomaso takes care of several patients at Greenfield Lodge. Greenfield Lodge is a hospice for people who are at the end of their lives. One of Tomaso’s patients is Mr. Burton, who has lung cancer that has spread to many other parts of his body.
Tomaso knows that caring for Mr. Burton includes caring for Mr. Burton’s family. One day, Mr. Burton’s granddaughter, Sarah, came with several other family members to visit. After helping to get chairs and making sure everyone was comfortable, Tomaso noticed that Sarah was still in the hallway. He saw she was crying. He helped Sarah down the hall to a sitting area and gave her some tissues.
After a while, Sarah stopped crying enough that she could tell Tomaso that she was very upset about her grandfather. Tomaso told her it was okay to feel sad. He also told her that her grandfather knows he is dying and knows his family will be sad when he is gone. Sharing their grief now will help all of them later.
When Tomaso walked Sarah back to the room, they both noticed that other people were crying. Sarah walked in, hugged her grandfather, and sat down next to his bed. She held his hand as Mr. Burton told the story of when Sarah was six and lost her first tooth. Everyone was sad, but everyone was glad that they were together.
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