In one of my articles as a part of my journalism program, I wrote, “There is no question, people come here to die. It’s visible through the doorways to each of the 10 rooms where friends and family negotiate the particular stage of their loved one’s decline. But looking closer, it is soon clear that this is a safe place where life is encouraged to thrive even in its final moments.”

In November 2010, I was invited into the south wing’s second floor corridors at St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital in Kingston, Ont. I met the exceptional team of palliative care nurses, doctors and volunteers tending to the lives cradled within each of the unit’s 10 beds.   

This is the photo page I laid out, featuring two stories from the south wing - Nurse Richard Oskrdal and volunteer George McGinnis.