I’ve been thinking of you and Michelle recently and wanted to send some love and prayers for you.
I work on 8B on University Hospital in Ann Arbor. I was talking to a nurse there recently about how emotional our floor is and how even after being there a year, it still gets to me sometimes. She told me that there are always going to be patients that change us, ones that move us with their strength and commitment, ones that we will love and remember until we are gone. Then she told me that Facebook friend Michelle was one of them. I was stunned. I had no idea that she knew Michelle had been there. She told how strong she had been, how she never wavered in her decisions and what an amazing woman, mom and person she was.
It was obvious to me while we talking that Michelle and her family made a huge impact on this nurse and while we were talking another walked by and listened for a while and then said “Oh I remember her! Her daughter has a birthday coming up!” Again, I was floored.
I know it may not mean much, but knowing what I know from working on the floor, you have to create walls so that you can take care of your patients and not grieve for them every time one passes. There are always exceptions to that rule, of course. Those certain patients that teach us more than we can teach them and who after they pass, we become different better nurses. But it was without a doubt, clear to me that Michelle had touched these nurses’ lives in a very big way. In fact, one of them just posted the about Michelle on her FB wall in remembrance…
I pray for peace for you and Michelle’s family regularly. Much love my friend.