by Kristina Gabalski
Jessica Walker (l) and Susan Walker (r) shortly after their arrival at Aurora House on May 15. Photograph by Kristina Gabalski.There are always special people at Aurora House, a comfort home for the dying on South Union Street in Spencerport, but a particularly special guest and her daughter spent the night May 15.
Susan Walker, a 69-year old avid long distance cyclist from Oklahoma, and her 39-year old daughter, Jessica, arrived at Aurora House just before 4:30 p.m. on May15.
Susan is pedaling her ten speed 2,000 miles in 42 days to raise money and awareness for hospice care.
Her tour, called “Heartland to Harbor for Hospice,” began in Stillwater, OK, where the Judith Karman Hospice is located. Susan’s tour, with a final destination of the shore of Rhode Island, is benefiting the Judith Karman Hospice.
Jessica and Susan began the day in Lockport and cycled east along Route 31A/31 to Spencerport. Susan had visited cousins in St. Catharine’s, Ontario before meeting up with Jessica, who flew in to the Buffalo Airport (along with her bike) from her home in the San Francisco Bay area at 2 a.m. on May 15. She joined her mother for a week-long stretch of the tour in order to celebrate Susan’s 70th birthday with her.
“It was great,” Susan said of the trek from Lockport to Spencerport. She noted that Route 31 was busy, but that it has a nice wide shoulder. “It’s gently rolling and mostly flat,” she said of the terrain.
Susan is familiar with New York State and Monroe County. She grew up in Scotia and Schenectady and had her first teaching job at Brighton High School teaching 10th and 11th grade English in 1968 and 1969. Susan and Jessica planned to ride through Brighton on May 16 after leaving Aurora House.
Susan Walker; Karen Kuebler, RN Staff Nurse; Dianne Kandt, MS, RN, Executive Director Aurora House; Jessica Walker at Aurora House in Spencerport. Photograph by Kristina Gabalski.Hospice care is close to Susan’s heart and she becomes a little emotional when she talks about it. She lost her own parents while she was in her 20s and says that difficult experience was very different from the care her mother-in-law received from Judith Karman Hospice.
“Hospice is wonderful,” she says. She and her husband cared for his mother in their own home during her final days with the help and support of hospice. “They provided grief counseling, nursing support and reassurance,” she says. “It wasn’t until my mother-in-law received care from Judith Karman Hospice that I understood what a supportive and vital role hospice plays in the final months or days of a loved one.”
Susan explains that she was planning to make a tour east on her bicycle when she met a young cyclist who was riding from California to North Carolina in support of the Make a Wish Foundation.
She was inspired to make her next ride fun and meaningful. Cycling for the benefit of Judith Karman Hospice was an “easy choice” she says. Funds raised are being used for nurse education. As of May 15, Susan had raised more than $13,000 for the charity.
Aurora House Executive Director Dianne Kandt, MS, RN, says she is thrilled to have Susan and Jessica visit and “bring attention to hospice. We are so psyched to have her stay with us.”
As a comfort care home, Aurora House provides end of life care consistent with the philosophy of hospice in a home-like setting with the support of professional staff and volunteers.
“Aurora House and what we do is about living,” Kandt explains, “Susan and Jessica are a great example of living life to the fullest and making the best of every day.”
Kandt added that she was looking forward to talking with Susan about how Aurora House works. “We pray that the seeds are planted – that someone will build one in their area,” she says.
You can follow Susan’s ride at: http://cycling4hospice.blogspot.com. More details about Susan’s Spencerport visit and how to become involved with hospice and local comfort care homes is available at www.aurorahousewmc.com.
