Volunteering rambles

I volunteer for Rocky Mountain Hospice and they have placed me with a "client" (aka patient). In order to receive hospice services, you have to have a life expectancy of six months or less. As a volunteer, I visit with a particular client once a week, every week until they pass away. It's a morbid thought that you'll be with this person until they die. Death isn't something that is easy for me by any means but I've known several people in my life who receive hospice services and I thought I should do something to add to someones life. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone wants to feel love and accepted.
While it took six weeks for my background check to come back clean and a few questionable TB tests, I finally got started seeing my client three weeks ago. We'll call her Mary. She lives in her home with her husband, who is unfortunately gone a lot. She has very limited vision and renal disease. She is a quiet, sweet lady who is very close to my parents age, so it hits a little bit closer to home that way.
When the volunteer coordinator told me about Mary and her condition, I had the strong confirmation that this was the person I was to help. While I know that it would take awhile for my and Mary's friendship to develop, I want to help her so badly. Her doctor suggested I try dignity therapy so that Mary can feel a sense of purpose in her life, to remember the contributions she has made throughout her lifetime. Tonight Mary and I were discussing her life history. I watched her smile as she told me stories of her childhood and of her own children and some of the funny things they would do. She is always so focused on her limitations that it is hard to understand that she is still a valuable person. As I watched her face as she talked about her family now, it made me smile inside. From our previous visits, I can see the immense love she has for her family and it reminds me of the love I have for my family. How some of my favorite times are spent with them. How some of them have turned out to be my best friends.
While I hope that I am and will make a small difference in Mary's life, she is already making a difference in my life. I don't think we fully understand how we can touch someones life. While a lot of people are in our life for a short time, they can have a lasting impression. I've had friends, co-workers and clergy members who maybe were only in my life for a semester, a year or so but the things I have learned from them are endless.

Whose life could you touch today?