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Cook: As we lay dying

Sherry Campbell, right, executive director and co-founder of Welcome Home Chattanooga, talks about the richness of giving to care to those who are living their last days, but cannot afford Hospice. Co-founder Rachel Smith, left, listens to the explanation.
Sherry Campbell, right, executive director and co-founder of Welcome Home Chattanooga, talks about the richness of giving to care to those who are living their last days, but cannot afford Hospice. Co-founder Rachel Smith, left, listens to the explanation. Sherry Campbell, right, executive director and co-founder of Welcome Home Chattanooga, talks about the richness of giving to care to those who are living their last days, but cannot afford Hospice. Co-founder Rachel Smith, left, listens to the explanation.

By David Cook 18 min read

Saw the most beautiful thing the other day.

It was death.

“What holy ground,” said Sherry Campbell.

Days before Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed five military members, reminding us of the tragic and violent face of death, I visited with Campbell to witness the sacred, compassionate side of death. We met inside a modest, four-bedroom home a few blocks from Brainerd Road. There, Campbell and Rachel Smith – both hospice and social work professionals, both with a humility and disarming humor – have created a shelter that’s unlike any other.

Get involved

Contact Sherry Campbell by visiting welcomehomeofchattanooga.org.