2018 was a year filled with pain and suffering for my family. In January, my sister suffered a medical error during and after her surgery and almost died. It took a lot of months of persistence, education and prayers to heal her.
A few months later, my father suffered a catastrophic stroke and after a week of hoping for a miracle, we had to let him go. A couple months later, I was visiting a skilled nursing facility as part of my work duties. It was my first time at this place which was actually a little bit out of my assigned territory…but I felt compelled to go there. I was greeted by a very friendly woman named Jeannie who offered to take me on a tour of the facility. I was surprised to learn that this lovely, warm person was the administrator the the facility-certainly she had much more important things to do other than take me on a tour! As we walked along the halls and saw the residents, I thought of my father and fought back tears. We reached the aviary and I fondly remembered my father’s love for birds and my tears could not be held back any longer. As the tears slid down my cheeks I explained to Jeannie that my dad passed away 2 months prior. She sat me down and spent the next hour listening as I told her about my dad and my concerns about taking care of my mother going forward.
I definitely knew that this stop did not happen by chance. I was meant to meet Jeannie and take a step toward healing from the trauma of the past year. I have heeded her words which came from experiences of her own. As I left, Jeannie gave me a container of Christmas cookies and I vowed I would somehow repay her kindness.
Thank you Jeannie for being a LIGHT!
