All Articles For Good Morning, Alice

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Several times Alice was taken to the ALS clinic at the University of Chicago. There, much helpful advice was given, medications were prescribed to relieve some of the distressing symptoms of ALS, and also experimental medications were given—but there was no indication that any of these slowed the progress of the disease. At first Alice was taken to Chicago by car when it was still possible to help her in and out of it. A folding wheelchair could fit into the trunk of the car—and Alice...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. After the return from Florida, there was to be no more walking for Alice. Earlier, two persons would hold her, each by an arm, as she slowly walked from one end of the room to the other. Once or twice a day was enough. This would loosen her muscles a bit, preventing cramps and pain. But now even this short walk had become too difficult. One more activity had to be given up. There would be no more walking for Alice. No more walking! She had...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. During the last few days of her life, Alice was willing to have the aspirator used to suction out the mucus from her throat. This is not to say that she enjoyed the procedure; on the contrary, she simply detested it. But she finally realized that there was no other way to clear her throat. Periodically, she would indicate her desire that the aspirator be used—while her eyes indicated almost a fear of it. Whoever was caring for Alice at the time would have to do...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. It is always difficult to acknowledge one’s own mortality. With Alice it was no different. There were the things she insisted on having done—which seemed to us to be so very trivial, especially in light of the fact that she could not live long anymore. When the many cards and letters came, Alice insisted (almost to the very end) on saving every canceled stamp. It did not matter that the stamp was of the most common sort—it had to be torn off and saved. Since she...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The new electrically controlled hospital bed, on occasion provided some entertainment for Alice also. Little Janis, who adored “Auntie Alice,” each morning would eagerly await instructions to go to Alice’s room to awaken her for breakfast. She’d run into the room and often climb into bed with “Auntie.” One morning, Alice pushed the controls, making the bed move. Janis was terrified and told “Auntie,” “Don’t do dat; dat naughty!” Alice chuckled about that for weeks—and made sure that we all heard about it! Since she was not...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Just before saying goodnight to Alice, we had noticed a very strange thing happening. Alice had not been able to move a muscle for several months, yet now her arms and legs definitely moved! It was an unusual sensation to see one move who was absolutely incapable of moving. One wondered if he had observed correctly—but there was no doubt about it. Alice herself seemed not even to notice—and we said nothing of it to her. Good Morning Alice:  Do you ever feel far from God,...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The problem for Alice in eating was not only the difficulty of raising her hand to her mouth. There was an increasingly difficult problem in swallowing. We could tell that the muscles in her throat and chest were becoming very weak. She could not exhale very strongly. In fact, she found it impossible to lie on her stomach and still breathe. It was this weakness which created the problem for Alice with eating: she had great difficulty swallowing, and even greater problem in coughing up anything...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Preparing Alice for bed at night came to be quite a routine. First, there were the prescribed exercises. Each finger and toe, the arms and legs, all must be moved the proper number of times. These exercises, too, were not to develop muscle strength, but rather were to stretch muscles enough to prevent or minimize painful cramps. Then, thick socks were put on Alice’s feet after lotion had been soothingly applied to her legs. Next, each arm and leg had to be placed in a position...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. It was in August of 1981 that additional help was obtained for Alice. Though each family member had a day of the week to assist, that no longer was sufficient. The demands on John’s family were becoming too great again. So a nurse was obtained who could come two days a week. The nurse was Barb—one could not have asked for a better—and Alice enjoyed her help and presence (though at first she refused to concede a need for a nurse). Often it was Barb who...