Maybe this is the most obvious thing I’ve ever written, but hospice is sad, y’all. I’ve started working in hospice as a chaplain. It is so cool to learn a new context for my skills and to build a more well-rounded skillset with every job I take. I thought I was pretty well prepared to spend so much time with death. Having done my internship and residency in a level one trauma center during Covid, getting a divorce after a 17 year marriage, and then doing a fellowship in palliative care at the VA (often a precursor to hospice), I kind of thought I was pretty comfortable around death. Turns out, I am. I have come to see death as a friend. I have totally upended my life in light of my experiences around death these last four years in chaplaincy. So much of the life that I am building now is in light of the fact that all of us are temporary.