comfort the afflicted

My job as an HIV/AIDS social worker sometimes means doing what has to be done. my job description is relatively vague and it's kind of hard to put "sit with the dying" on paper and still retain employees.

several months ago i got a new client, a man i'll call Michael, who was very very ill when he was dumped in Oklahoma City by another social service agency that just didn't know how to help him. i remember that Michael hadn't showered in several days, had a huge decubitus on his backside, was an active drug user, had pneumonia, diabetes, and goodness knows what else (on top of AIDS).
i accompanied him to the ER and spent over 10 hours waiting for him to be admitted. we talked some during that time...i knew he had no family in state and didn't want me to try and contact anyone. he said he had two kids but they didn't know about his health condition. he never would give me a name or number of a family member.
he knew he was very sick. he knew that he needed a shower. he knew that his situation was grim. he was calm, polite, and grateful that this hospital was paying attention to him (2 others had barely looked at him). he was admitted and 10 days later he died. i was never able to get an emergency contact person from him. a local funeral home cremated him. there were no services.

every once in a while i get calls from the hospital that treated this gentleman, hoping that i had found a family member or someone to pay his outstanding bills.

on thursday i got a call from Michael's sister and she lives in another state. she and her family (including his parents) had been searching for him for months and by accident were notified that he had died over 7 months ago. she gave me the legal releases i needed and i was able to tell her about what led up to her brother's death. she cried as i recounted the events of those last 10 days of life. she told me of their family and how they were mourning their loss and struggling for answers and for closure.
his family was able to get his remains and give him a proper memorial.

i choked up and cried while finishing my recounting to the sister. until that moment i hadn't realized that i needed that closure too--of knowing that Michael's family knew and that they did indeed love him.

it's funny---i dropped out of the ministry a long time ago only to enter a secular ministry.

sometimes i wonder if God is testing me.