Friday, November 26, 2010

Giving Thanks

family-b

(Photo taken by my brother-in-law yesterday.  It's the first photo of the 4 of us together in 2 years!)

This year I am most thankful for my family.  I know it sounds a bit cliche but it's true. 

You see, I'm a nurse.  A pediatric nurse to be exact.  Over the past two months we've had a string of deaths on my unit related to unusual illnesses and freak accidents.  It's been hard on everyone in my unit. 

Close friends and their families are battling cancer, and one friend's aunt lost her battle early Thanksgiving morning.  Not exactly a way to spend your Thanksgiving.

The biggest impact on me this month was when a old friend's son was rushed to my hospital in full cardiac arrest.  He was not expected to live.  Against all odds and to the amazement of all the doctors, he made a full, complete recovery!  The whole ordeal hit a little too close to home though.  You see, things like that happen to other people, not people you know.  Watching my friend and his family go through weeks of worrying and waiting made me come home and appreciate my family even more. 

My girls are healthy.  My husband is healthy.  I am healthy.  My family is healthy.  I did not spend Thanksgiving in a hospital.  I did not spend Thanksgiving morning the loss of someone I love.  I spent Thanksgiving thanking God for my family and for saving the life of a friend's son.  For that, I give thanks.

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6 comments:

Pitterle Postings said...

Oh yes! All perfect reasons. And it is a much needed job you do, to be a compassionate person and help other's through their pain. Thank you for being there.

S.I.F. said...

You really do have an absolutely beautiful family friend... glad to hear you had such a great Thanksgiving.

Bree, Home of Blogmania said...

Wow...very humbling! Thank you.

Mama M. said...

Oh, I am sorry. So, so sorry. It is hard...some days, it is really, really hard to be a nurse AND a mommy.

Hugs...

Anonymous said...

The nurses we still keep in contact with from our Hospital days often say the same thing...how thankful they are for their families and how the don't take them for granted. Same is true for us who have lived in the ICU, you never take things for granted again. My baby just had her "rebirthday" yesterday. The thought of how fragile life is has been weighing on me very heavily these last few days!

Anonymous said...

The nurses we still keep in contact with from our Hospital days often say the same thing...how thankful they are for their families and how the don't take them for granted. Same is true for us who have lived in the ICU, you never take things for granted again. My baby just had her "rebirthday" yesterday. The thought of how fragile life is has been weighing on me very heavily these last few days!

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