Remembrance - Day 5 of 40

Mary Ann was a very dear soul,

a greeter at the quiet little church

that I like to slip off to on a Saturday evening.

Whenever she saw me, she always lit up

and had the biggest hug,

ready and waiting.

If hubby was with me, she hugged him, too.

If he wasn't, she asked about him.

She always called me her angel which touched my heart.

But what she didn't realize?

She was more of an angel to me than I could ever be to her.

She passed unexpectedly in her sleep the day after Christmas.

I just "happened" to be at mass that next Saturday. 

So while it knocked me in the heart to hear of her passing,

I was so grateful to be able to attend her funeral.

It didn't surprise me a bit that she was so very loved.

.   .   .   .   .

Sandy was one of my very first nurses.

She was always so kind and supportive of me

and she was the best "sticker" I knew.

She could always get the needle in for my next iv

which with my veins?

Was no simple task.

One of the medications I received,

adriamycin, was a devil of a drug.

You could only receive so much of it 

before it would start to do damage to your heart

and it had to be *exactly* in your vein or it would tear up

the tissue it came in contact with.

Knowing this Sandy always started her search for good vein

with rubber gloves on.

But if she couldn't get the vein just right, she often removed 

the glove so she would be sure to get it.

How do I know this?

Because her hands were covered in red splotches

where the medicine had dripped out on her skin and burned it.

There was something about knowing that about her,

that she wanted to get it right that bad?

I felt like she was truly in the battle for my life

with me.

At first, I was upset with my doctor 

for taking her away to be his nurse

at the new cancer center he'd helped build.

But when he said it was *because* she was such a good stick

and shouldn't that be where she belonged?

I understood.

Yes, of course, he was right.

(But I didn't hafta like it :) )

.   .   .   .   .

Listen is exactly perfect.

I felt heard, seen, cared for,

 and loved by both of them.

Blessed be.

.            *            .