Yesterday

My heart has truly been touched. I have a resident who is a 90- something year old man. He weighs all of 98 pounds.....like a little skeleton laying in a bed. I have made him my personal project. He came to us with a very deep wound, which I personally am treating. I just can't trust anyone else to give him proper wound care. I want him to heal. He has difficulty breathing...so I give him frequent breathing treatments. I can't imagine how it would feel to suffocate.....and I don't want him to feel that way either. Anyway, went I went in his room yesterday to give him his medications and a breathing treatment, he surprised me by grabbing my hand, something he had never done before. I leaned down and gazed into his brown eyes clouded with cataracts. He said, " Why do you do what you do?" I said, "Excuse me?" not quite understanding what he was asking. He said, " You could be on the streets like a lot of other women. But you chose to do this. Why?" I was dumbfounded. Nobody had ever asked me that, and honestly, I had never really thought about it. It just seemed to come natural to me.....like it's what I was just predestined to do. I said to him, "I do it because I love it." He then surprised me once again by saying, "I have a better answer for you. You do it because God tells you to. You are repaying a great debt to Him with your service." His eyes began to fill with tears and he said, " I love you sister....thank you for all you do for me. I mean that." As I stood there looking into his eyes I couldn't help but cry, the tears began streaming down my face. I said, " You are exactly right. I AM repaying a debt to God. He gave me my mother back when she should have died, and all I did was ask. So yes, I guess you are right." I gave him a hug and kissed his cheek and told him I loved him too. He rested quietly the rest of the day. I went back to work last night for 11-7 shift. It was a quiet night. Quieter than usual is what am told. Several of my residents were glad to see me back for the night. A few of them said they would rest better just knowing I was there. They made me feel good, even though I was bone weary. I have come to the conclusion that there is no job more rewarding than nursing.