On October 20, 2021 Nancy Lyon was selected as the 2021 Langeland Hospice Caregiver of the Year. She attended the Hospice Caregiver Awards banquet with her husband Curtis and two of her three sons, Quincy and Matthew. Nancy has worked for Wings of Hope Hospice in Allegan Michigan for 8 years as Certified Nurse Assistant. She was nominated originally for the Langeland monthly Hospice Caregiver award by her collogues at Wings of Hope Hospice and received the November 2020 monthly award. She and the other 11 Hospice Caregiver Awards recipients (as well as including several of their guests) were invited to the annual banquet on October 20, 2021 at the Westside Chapel of Langeland Family Funeral Homes. During the banquet each of the attendees was recognized for their special work as a Hospice Caregiver.
Nancy’s journey towards working at hospice began when her brother was on hospice, and she became his Power of Attorney. She had never thought about working for hospice until after her brother’s passing, months down the road. His death was a traumatic time for her and her family, but she saw how beautiful “the team hospice” was at during his time on the service. She says, “They made it the best for my brother it could possibly be. They were like my bloodline. Each discipline did their part, and this comforted us in this time. This is also where I came to the end of myself and cried out for help to God as I was so broken. And He alone saved me. This is when I knew I wanted to work for hospice and give back what was done for me.” She also shared about how working during the pandemic has reaffirmed things that she has always believed, “To listen to that really small voice in my mind, heart and soul that is bigger than the news, the media and the world around me and the unseen. That death is imminent for all of us, not just hospice patients. The most important person to listen to is not ourselves, but the one who is always there no matter the circumstances and loves far more than we can imagine and forgives all our sins.”
After receiving the Hospice Caregiver of the Year Award Nancy, she began by saying how she glorifies God in all His work and prays that He guides her. “It is my desire to be led by Jesus in all my relationships and I believe He brought me to hospice and He is working out in me, my salvation through faith. That not of myself, He continues to build those relationships for community and family to glorify Him. I am so blessed and my cup overflows”
