Author Archives: This I Believe

This nurse midwife believes that it only takes a moment to open a universe of hope. The tools are simple: Graciousness, humility, and love.

Claudia had been our neighbor for about 8 years. She was our nurse on call. Any time my dying father needed pain relief, she would simply walk over and administer his medication. Even in the middle of the night.

I look back on thousands of hours spent sitting beside nursing mothers and babies in my career as a hospital nurse and board certified lactation consultant. The process of nurturing young mammals still enthralls me.

In my early twenties, as a pediatric nurse, dealing with too many children diagnosed with cancer and other dreadful afflictions, I was surrounded by hope. I see it now.

This hospice nurse was inspired by her own grandparents. “Grandpa and Grandma took care of their own parents over the years. At first it was the small things…but as my great-grandparents health deteriorated…it became so much more.”

Today this nurse is a successful entrepreneur. But yesterday, she lived in fear. Now she’s just proud to have ventured out into the unknown, win or lose.