The circle is one of the universal symbols we use for completeness because it has no beginning and no end.  In chaplaincy I often refer to the shape of a circle when we form a prayer circle of family holding hands around the patient while the patient is in the hospital bed.  These prayers are always powerful for me and families respond positively to them.

Today I want to talk about another way that the image of circle sometimes describes my family encounters as a chaplain.  I am the type of person who likes to have closure.  So when I meet a patient and/or their family during their hospital stay and then realize they have been discharged before I have seen them again I wonder how things went for them after I saw them.  Sometimes I am given the gift of being able to see patient and family before they are discharged and learn how things are going and details about the prognosis.  Today I was paged to the death of a patient.  This particular patient had suffered a code blue several weeks earlier.  I was just around the corner when the code was paged and moved to the area and was able to offer immediate comfort to the spouse who was there.  The patient was moved to ICU where I was able to continue to have encounters with the spouse and other family members.  As the family and I said our good-byes to the patient, I was able to feel the emotional bond that we had developed over many visits.  As I left the encounter I was sad for the family because of the journey of grief they were beginning.  I also had a better sense of closure than I often get because I had been able to follow the family through nearly the entire hospital stay.

Relationships are important.  They always have a beginning.  Sometimes their ending is defined and other times the two parties just don’t get the chance to see each other again.  I am even more thankful now for relationships I have with patients and families where closure is part of the outcome.