Tanisha Smith traveled to Illinois for a life-changing reason in July 2018. She was donating a kidney. Tanisha is originally from Decatur, Ill., but now lives in Marietta, Ga., with her husband, Jamal, and five children. In 2015, she found…
At the height of World War II, young naval lieutenant John Schaeffer helped construct supply bases in the South Pacific—building airstrips, mobile hospitals and roads on islands dotted across the embattled ocean. At the age of 99, more than 70…
Earlier in her life, Dolores Shoup didn’t have many opportunities to celebrate her birthday. But that changed when she moved to a group home for people with developmental disabilities in Taylorville 14 years ago. Since then, Dolores has enjoyed celebrating the…
The call came on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day seven years ago. Michelle Buscher, then 42 years old, was soundly slumbering, enjoying the last day of a three-day weekend before going back to work. Her phone rang promptly at 8…
When Carol Harms went in for her annual mammogram this February and a suspicious spot was found, she didn’t give it too much thought. There’s very little presence of cancer in her family. And she had been feeling intermittently unwell…
If you ask Helen “Buzzy” Burris what one of her final wishes would be, the fun-loving mother will reply with a smirk, “Tall, dark and handsome.” Her response reveals some of the spirited banter she shares with the people in…
Each day spent caring for people who are living their last moments or taking their last breaths might seem like a difficult job. But for Memorial Home Hospice caregivers, the rewards are countless. When the end of life is near,…
Memorial’s Sharing Wishes Fund is celebrating five years and nearly 200 wishes granted. The Fund provides wishes for hospice patients across central Illinois. See some of the many wishes featured in this video provided by Mary Bretscher, MD, associate medical…
The traditional star or angel just doesn’t cut it anymore. Trees are now being topped with bows, ribbons, sprays and picks. Get in the holiday spirit with our video about how to create a tree topper featuring Jason Wood and…
When Lisa Woods received the news she had breast cancer, she wasn’t surprised. As the seventh woman in her family to have breast cancer, she was braced to hear the news from her doctor one day. Lisa, who’s 46 and…