Life is very fragile. Live each day to the fullest.
Type of Volunteer:
Patient-family advocate and We Honor Veterans volunteer
Where is your hometown?
Augusta, GA
In what place have you lived the longest?
Augusta, GA
What is your favorite place that you’ve lived or visited?
Bangkok, Thailand
What convinced you to move to the Lowcountry?
My wife loved the beach.
What is your current occupation? If you are retired, what was your past career?
US Army for 30 years and President of the Atlanta Goodwill for 7 years.
What are three of your favorite hobbies?
Golf, tennis, and working out at the fitness center.
What is your most memorable moment in volunteering with HCL?
Having a patient tell me, “You made my day.”
Who is your most memorable patient?
Randy Pollard.
What have you learned in your experience volunteering with hospice?
Life is very fragile. Live each day to the fullest.
What inspired you to volunteer with HCL?
Charlie and Ann Parker.
Do you volunteer with other nonprofits in the area?
No.
Have you or your family been personally affected by hospice?
Yes – having the staff share in my grief when I lost my wife.
What is your happiest or most rewarding volunteering story?
Holding hands with a wife as her husband died with ease.
What is your favorite part of volunteering with hospice?
Dedicated staff members and volunteers that I’ve met along this journey.
How does HCL’s mission inspire you?
Seeing someone’s pain under control and observing great nursing care is very inspiring.
What skills make you a better volunteer?
Listening.
What do you wish people knew about HCL?
What great service HCL can provide in the most critical time in one’s life.
How has being a hospice volunteer changed your outlook on life?
It’s made me better appreciate each day of good health and to thank God each day for my journey.
What is your most irrational fear?
A grandchild in trouble.
What age would you choose to be permanently? Why?
48 – At the peak of my Army career and having the resources for the family to enjoy a better life.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
Patience – I pray for this every day.
What is something you would never do again?
Skydive.
Would you rather live a week in the past or in the future? Why?
The past. I grew up watching the greatest generation in action.
What is something you wish you could’ve told yourself ten years ago?
Not only to tell Jane (my wife) I loved her dearly, but to give her a hug for being my love and friend.
What do you think you will want to tell yourself ten years from now?
Don’t think I will be here – but if I am, I would like to enjoy a room full of great-great-grandchildren.
What would you want your last words to be?
“Thank you, God, for a great life.”
Mack,
I have thought of you often over the years. I was widowed 5 years ago and am still sober-31+years.
So glad to see that you are still doing good works.
Micki