A Friend Can Change a Life
By Camille Horvith, Student Volunteer
Gerald Patrick Semien, “Pat” to those who know him, is a familiar face at the Houston VA.
For 13 years, this Vietnam combat Veteran has walked these halls not as a patient, but as a friend. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday, Pat makes his way to the hospice unit at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. He’s part of a program called No Veteran Dies Alone; and he takes that mission personally.
He sits with Veterans who have no family nearby. He talks with them, laughs with them, and makes sure they have the small things that matter; clean clothes, toiletries, a little comfort in an uncomfortable time. But more than anything, he shows up.
“I enjoy coming up here and being with the patients," he said. " A lot of them don’t have families here, so I love talking with them and making their life more comfortable while they’re here.”
Pat knows firsthand what a friendly face can mean. He was once a patient at the VA himself and he never forgot it.
“I’m passionate about Veterans and helping them because I was one,” he said.
Pat is devoted to his fellow Veterans in more ways than one. On the third Saturday of every month, he pulls up a chair and plays bingo with his Veteran friends in the Houston VA Community Living Center, and if you’ve ever seen the look on someone’s face when they win a prize, you understand why he keeps coming back. When visitors like the Houston Astros or Dynamo come to the hospital, Pat is there too, helping make those moments special for our Veterans.
He will tell you simply that he plans to keep volunteering for as long as he can and that he hopes others will join him.
But the Veterans in the Houston VA hospice unit could tell you something more. That when Pat walks through the door, the room feels a little lighter. That his voice is familiar. That he remembered their name.