If you have recently been down Second Street to the Josh Davis Plaza, you might have noticed a new piece of art setting there. The Before I Die wall debuted a month ago during Perry’s annual Art on the Prairie festival.
Walls like the one in Perry have been seen in numerous other cities throughout the world, and HCI Hospice Care, formerly Hospice of Central Iowa, thought it was time to bring the wall to Perry.
The Before I Die wall movement was started by a woman in New Orleans who was experiencing intense grief over the loss of her spouse. Cindy Chang, the original artist, painted the side of an abandoned building with the words, “Before I Die I Want To . . .”
Soon many people began filling in these blanks with items from their bucket list.
HCI Hospice Care realizes that death and grief are topics that are not talked about much in our society and felt the wall would be a great way to get people talking about the end of life and the purpose of living.
For 20 years HCI Hospice Care has been assisting patients and their families make the difficult transition into their end-of-life journeys. All of our patients wish to die with independence, quality of life and, most importantly, dignity.
All of these wishes are part of our mission. This is why HCI Hospice Care finds it extremely important to let these patients live the rest of their days to the fullest. We do this by granting “wishes” to our patients so they too can cross items off of their bucket lists.
For example, HCI Hospice Care had the privilege of sending a patient to one last Chicago Cubs game, of arranging transportation so a grandfather was able to walk his granddaughter down the aisle, of helping a family have a final vacation together, sailing on the waters of Clear Lake.
It is our hope that these granted wishes prompt each one of us to think about what we wish to accomplish before we die. Is it a trip to a different country? learning a new language? or simply to find happiness?
We encourage everyone to make a trip to the Before I Die wall at the Perry Public Library and document your own wishes and live today as if might be your last.
If you would like more information about the Before I Die Wall or about services provided by HCI Hospice Care, call 515-465-4705 or stop into our office at the Dallas County Hospital, suite 100. We would love to get to know you!
