I spent the better part of yesterday in a near-by clinic hooked up to an IV replenishing the fluids I lost because I spent a better part of the night before…well if you’ve ever been hit by a stomach bug, you know! Basically my body was wringing itself of every last drop of moisture it had…and it wasn’t pretty!

So after a long dark night I dragged myself to an urgent care clinic and basically didn’t care what happened to me once I got there–as long as I got myself in the door I knew I’d be okay. I think it was the health care version of crossing the thresh hold of your nation’s Embassy to claim sanctuary!

I was seen by a doctor who was a very endearing elder man and was then turned over to the care of two very special people: my nurses. They were so very kind and compassionate attending to my needs from the small: turning down the lights–to the medium: blankets to ward of the freezing a/c–to the large: changing the IV when the machine beeped.

If you have ever been so miserable sick you could care less what happens to you, then you know the supreme comfort of being in the care of someone not only well trained, but also warm and comforting. It’s in the gentle patting of your hand, letting you know that even though you feel wretched, you’re not alone; it’s in the extra pillow or blanket they bring to help you feel a little more at ease; it’s in the apple juice and straw they bring you to sip so you don’t keel over on your way out; it’s in the, “Anything else I can do for you?” “No, thank you. You’ve been so kind.” “Well, Honey, you just look so miserable laying there all day, just trying to make things a little better for you.”

So to all the men and women who devote their lives to caring for the sick, the frail, the bedraggled, the sometimes pathetic, the sad, the old, the young, the chronic and the acute, THANK YOU! Those two small words don’t even seem to begin to describe the gratitude I have. Many of you are unsung heroes and heroines. Many of you have to do miserable chores, tolerate bad attitudes, and all this at any hour of the day and night. You help bring us to life, keep us alive and give us back to our lives.

You, nurses, are made of the stuff of angels!

Special tribute to Aunt Linda, Kym, Sarah, and Hannah