| Rodney |
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One day when my kids were in grade school, we went hunting for leaves
of every kind for a school project for one of them. We made it a family
outing the girls and I. This is before the "Bill" era of our lives. We
ended up in one of the town's cemetaries ( the one where most of our
family is buried ). I was in the northern part of the cemetary when I
felt as if someone was watching me. I looked around and all I could see
were my daughters gathering leaves a few yards away. I went back to
gathering some leaves and the feeling was overpowering. Still I could
see no one except the three of us. I looked down and found I was standing by the grave of a young patient I used to take care of at the hospital. He was in his early 20's and had Hodgskin's Lymphoma. I worked the night shift then. There were nights when Rodney could not sleep and I would sit with him talking of old western movies and cowboys, his favorite subject. I ususally sat with him until he fell asleep. Some nights we said little or I just held his hand. He was scared of dying alone and that he would die at night. His parents and girlfriend visited daily in the day time and evening but never at night. He was such a wonderful loving person. One night I sat with him until he fell asleep for good. His parents and girlfriend were on their way to the hospital but did not arrive in time. His parents said that Rodney often spoke of me when he was in the hospital or at home between treatments. They said that they appreciated all I did for him to make his stays enjoyable. I never knew I had that impact on him as he never even said so. I only did what I hoped that someone would have done for me if I were in Rodney's place. I am not super nurse, just a nurse. I did love my patients, perhaps too much. My superiors kept telling me to quit getting so involved with patients and just do my work. How can you be a human and not get involved? |
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