I sit with the rest of the world, in shock, awe, disbelief and sadness, that we are facing such a global pandemic. Logic tells me that we will come through this all; that life will be different, but life will go on.

At least for some.

A couple of weeks ago I had received an email from the OT/ Case manager letting me know that my dear client, Henry (who I wrote about here) was sick. He was in the Long term care facility and had developed what they thought was pneumonia. They tested him twice for Covid – but it came back negative.

The third time, it came back positive. Two staff workers also tested positive.

The OT wanted to know when the last time was that I had seen Henry. It had been a several weeks early as I had to cancel due to my vacation. So, it was well before the time he would be have been infected.

I was so sad to learn of his illness – but out of everyone in that long term care home – Henry was probably the healthiest – and he took pride in that! He was always showing me how “strong” he was and giving me the thumbs up whenever I asked about his wellbeing. I knew if anyone could beat it, it was him. This disease would not be the thing that took him down.

I checked in on him through the OT who had contact with the home. I wished there was a way to contact him directly – but even though he had an iPad, I had not trained him on FaceTime (and I’m not sure he would have been able to learn it either). According to the updates, he was doing well, was eating a bit and had his colour back .

Early yesterday morning the OT emailed to say that Henry had taken a turn for the worse. His fever was back and he was having delusions and was confused. She asked for our prayers.

Last evening, I received word that Henry had passed away.

My heart broke.

This is the second client in 8 months that I have lost – and that I have truly, truly loved. Some clients are just so special and dear to you. Some clients teach you more than you teach the. Some clients steal a bit of your heart.

Henry was one of those clients.

I cried and quickly searched my phone and found a video we had made together. In February Rob visited Vienna on business and went to the Vienna Opera House. Henry had a great love for the opera and had frequented the Vienna Opera house many times, so when Rob decided to go see a performance there, I asked him to send me pictures and a video. Due to the time change, Rob was at the Opera house exactly during the time of my appointment with Henry. Rob was able to send us video clips and take multiple pictures and I was able to share them with Henry right away. We created a video together – talking about how Henry had been in that exact spot and how he loved the opera. He said the pictures and videos were “fantastic”! At the end of the video, he put his arm around me and squeezed me into a sideways hug and we both laughed:)

What a precious video that is (I wish I could share but won’t due to the fact that he was my client so privacy policy prevails:)

During my last session with Henry, we listened to some new music. The Rehab Support worker had found some of Henry’s old “mixed tapes” that Henry’s friend had brought in. The RSW saw that “Roy Orbison” was listed and even though he did not know who Roy was (too young, lol), he uploaded a bunch of Roy Orbison songs onto Henry’s iPad.

During my final session, Henry and I did some work, and then in between, we took breaks to listen to Roy Orbison songs. Henry knew them well and smiled, laughed and nodded along. Who knew that would be our very last session. Such a precious memory to have listening to some of his favourite music with him.

Tonight at dinner we were having a regular dinner conversation. We were laughing about something and Sam said “Is it over?” as a comment in our our conversation.

All of a sudden, Alexa (who I have a love/hate relationship with), started talking and said “Ok, here is “It’s over” by Roy Orbison” and it started to play….

A little message from Henry to me : it’s over, but only for now. Until we meet again.