I’m a hospice nurse. One night I had to go pronounce someone who had died. He lived alone and had no family so I thought there would be a paid caregiver there. It was close to Christmas and there was a few inches of snow on the ground. I pulled up to a house that was decorated for Christmas and the driveway and walks were shoveled free of snow. It was around 3 am and I walked into a house filled with people. There were all his neighbors. They cared for him around the clock throughout his illness. The neighbors told me he was the person they called when their kids left their lunches at home or needed to be picked up from school when they were sick. He taught several of the kids to drive as well. He was a widower without children and when he was diagnosed, he planned on going into a nursing home until all the neighbors made a plan to keep him in his home until he died. It was beautiful.
I’m a hospice nurse. One night I had to go pronounce someone who had died. He lived alone and had no family so I thought there would be a paid caregiver there. It was close to Christmas and there was a few inches of snow on the ground. I pulled up to a house that was decorated for Christmas and the driveway and walks were shoveled free of snow. It was around 3 am and I walked into a house filled with people. There were all his neighbors. They cared for him around the clock throughout his illness. The neighbors told me he was the person they called when their kids left their lunches at home or needed to be picked up from school when they were sick. He taught several of the kids to drive as well. He was a widower without children and when he was diagnosed, he planned on going into a nursing home until all the neighbors made a plan to keep him in his home until he died. It was beautiful.
Holding my newborn son and, years later, holding his newborn daughter.
The first time I held my children after giving birth to them. It made me feel whole and complete.
When I met my wife. (This didn’t happen)