December came and went

Here is a post to wrap up last year, seeing as how i didn't manage a single post in December.

We had a busy month, just like all of you... a great Christmas, my tree needs to come down today... well it needed to come down last week, but I have this husband who likes it up longer...

It's been a little bit crazy at work lately. There are just 2 nurses, myself and Sharon. On Dec. 19th she got a call in the middle of the day that her 5 month old was not breathing and was on his way to the hospital. He didn't make it. It's been hard to know how to help her through any of this, I'm thankful for my healthy kids- they can drive me crazy any day, and i should just be thankful for them. She asked me to sing at his funeral, which was weird because she'd never heard me sing... but i did it. Marie accompanied me, as usual, but she actually wrote the words for the song I sang. A sweet lullaby that was a perfect fit. Sharon and her family are not members, and this has given me an opportunity to bare parts of my testimony to her. It's interesting because even before this happened I kept feeling like our conversations were led in a direction where I could share my knowledge of the gospel. I know that Heavenly Father is working here, I just hope I'm saying and doing the things He's wanting me to.

It's been hard this time of year for patients. You always hear that people pass away around the holidays. I've never nursed in a chronic setting before so i guess i haven't seen it. But in the past 2 weeks we have lost 4 patients, and 2 of them were my all time favorites because they reminded me so much of my grandparents. For example, a lot of our patients sleep through their dialysis treatments because they are stuck for about 4 hours in a recliner (heck, I'd sleep)... but one day i suggested to Fred that he go ahead and rest his eyes and he said to me, "I can't sleep, I might miss something!" (sounds like a Carson to me!) He wouldn't turn on the TV because he said that watching the staff was more entertaining any day- I held his hand 3 times a week, we laughed, we cried, he counseled me on parenting and gave me marriage tips- he, after all, had been with his sweetheart for 49 years. Fred's wife was a member of the church, and although he'd attended with her through most of their marriage he never was baptized... but was as good a man as any i've ever known... and what a privilege it was to know him. He was probably among the healthiest of my patients, his passing was not expected, reminding me how little we can predict in this life.

Miss Jane, was a great lady who wore turquoise jewelry and white Ked tennies. She was very classic in her style and beauty, brave in the face of an unkind disease, and caring toward those who cared for her. She was the first nurse practitioner in the state of Idaho. So beautiful and smart. She'd been so sick and in such pain that i'm thankful she finally got to go home.... but i'll miss her sassy sense of humor, and her smile, what a great example to me.

Fred and Jane were the brightest spots in my day on M-W-F... I'm thankful for the chance to care for them and their families. Anyway... it's a new year, and i have a tree to take down. Happy new year to all of you....