Just Because She Mentioned Cake

Some of the most meaningful moments in hospice care start with something small – a quick comment, an offhand thought, something that seems like nothing… until someone listens a little closer. This is a story about our staff member, Ari, and a patient we’ll call Nina.

Ari was going door to door one afternoon, taking lunch orders. When she got to Nina’s room, Nina was flipping through a Chatelaine magazine.”
o’Ari was going door to door one afternoon, taking lunch orders. When she got to Nina’s room, Nina was flipping through a Chatelaine magazine.” She paused on a page and held it up – it was this gorgeous, elaborate cake. The kind that looks
like it belongs on the cover of a cookbook.
She smiled and said, kind of offhand, ‘I wonder how they made this? I’d love to try it. Then she tucked the page back, placed her lunch order, and that was that.

But not for Ari.She went home, looked up the recipe, and got to work in the kitchen.
The next day, she walked into Nina’s room… and surprised her with the very cake from that
magazine. It was such a small moment, but it meant so much. The look on Nina’s face – pure joy. Surprise. Delight, because someone had listened.

That’s what person-centered care looks like. It doesn’t always come in big, sweeping gestures. Sometimes, it’s just noticing a moment… and turning it into something special. That cake probably wasn’t in any care plan or medical chart. But it was exactly what Nina needed that day.

She said she’d love to try the cake. So someone made it for her.
Every patient has a story. Every moment matters.