I like my job

Today I met Jack. Jack has Diabetes and came in with an infection in his toe. About to turn 90 in a week, I told him this was quite an accomplishment. "That's nothing", he told me. "I have been married for sixty-eight of those years." He wore the biggest smile when he told me this. His blue eyes twinkled when he smiled.

Jack continued to amaze me all day. He was never rude, demanding, or short tempered with me. I knew he was in a fair amount of discomfort. He didn't complain. He listened to my orders: "elevate your leg, take your pills, and don't bend your arm". He tolerated several intravenous antibiotics, and multiple unwrap and rewrap episodes of his toe. He smiled through the entire process.

Jack and I spent some time discussing the plan for choosing the best antibiotic, the test to determine how severe the infection actually was, and how long he figured he would be in the hospital. All the while he reminded me of his bride of 68 years. He told me she was in a nursing home near his house. "I visit her twice a day, every day", again that smile and those twinkling blue eyes. You still drive? I asked. Yep! Smile and twinkle.

In the afternoon, Jack developed a fever. I came with Tylenol and more instructions. I put Jack in bed, covered him with the sheet. He looked at me with those eyes, "thank you so much, I won't forget you", Jack said. Today, I really love my job.

Oh my, isn't it funny? Life. Sometimes its terribly funny. Both a joke and a tragedy. I woke up today and knew that it couldn't possibly be a bad day. I woke up with the most perfect blue sky visible in abstract slashes of blue showing between the slats of the white blinds on the window. I woke up slowly, my body saying it was ready to start the day. No alarms, no ringing phone. I awoke with someone I love. Someone who loves me very much. We shared coffee and oatmeal. It couldn't be a bad day with a start like that.

Many unpleasant tasks awaited me today. I think about these unpleasant things frequently. They have become part of my daily "to do list". When I look at this list that has accumulated in the last three years I realize that it isn't all bad.

People will surprise you sometimes. Small things can make even the most unpleasant task more pleasant. So on this beautiful day I am happy and grateful to the people who have helped in the tiniest ways. The AT&T customer service agent who listened to me cry (literally) last week when I explained to him why my mother won't need her home phone number any more. The pharmacist who continues to disprove every bitter thing I have thought about people in general as he patiently allows me to try another credit card, laughs with me as I tell him it will probably be turned down like the others, and triumphantly announced when he called me back today that "we were successful".

So for all those people out there who have listened, laughed, and made oatmeal. Thank you. I knew it would be a great day.