28 September 2022
People leave a gift in their Will to hospice for all sorts of reasons. For Sally Tetro, it’s about honouring the elderly and the grandparents she didn’t have.
At 85 years old Sally Tetro is the proud grandmother of eight grandchildren. They all live near her, so she hosts ’cousins evenings’, where the kids, who range in age from 17 to 29, come over and she puts on pizza and pavlova for them.
“They love it,” she says. “Then I just literally sit in the corner and listen, and the chatter is fabulous. They’re all great fun.”
Before Sally became a grandmother she had little understanding of what that wonderful relationship between grandparent and grandchild can be. “I never had any grandparents and until I met my late husband, and he had grandparents, I didn’t know how to deal with older people.”
Sally realised that being an older person didn’t equate to “shawls and rocking chairs”. Then later her own grandchildren taught her that being around them “kept me young”.
"I love the idea
that I can carry on making an impact long after I’m gone.”
Sally Tetro
That spurred her into thinking, “Here are these people in the community who are coming to the ends of their lives, and whatever situation they’re in, hospice can do so much for them.” So Sally decided to leave a gift in her Will to Harbour Hospice, and her four children and wider family are completely on board with it.
The impact of Gifts In Wills, no matter the size, cannot be underestimated. Government funding makes up only half the amount we need to provide palliative care, free of charge, to the community, so we are dependent on the generosity of our community, and incredibly grateful to Sally for her kindness.
And for Sally, she says, “I love the idea that I can carry on making an impact long after I’m gone.”
Every December Sally gets the grandkids together for a photo and there’s “quite a bit of competition” to be at the end of the line as the tallest, she says.
“For a long time, it was the oldest then as the others have grown bigger it’s become a great battle. Sometimes they come out with their hair gelled up or with shoes that give them an extra fraction of an inch. One day, as my second son watched on, he said, ‘Here’s your wealth in life.’
“He was absolutely right.”
To discuss how you can make a difference with a Gift In Will like Sally, please contact Partnerships Manager Milly Whitefoot on 021 783 437 or at Milly.Whitefoot@harbourhospice.org.nz
