Friends

Today's posting is about some of the friends we have made here at Seton Hospital. I'll give a progress report tomorrow on the capping off of the NG tube.

First, our friend Amy, formerly referred to as a Pixie-Person. Amy has this remarkable way of making Parker smile, no matter how horrible he feels. As you can see in the photo, Amy knows her role is not only as a friend, but as our own private cheerleader. She is 4'11", was raised in Salt Lake City, raises goats and makes cheese from their milk, taught English in Brazil, has a culinary degree but decided being a chef wasn't as much fun as just plain old cooking.

Amy comes barreling into the room in the morning, throws the curtain back and announces, It's going to be a great day Parker, 'cuz I'm here! Amy is going back to college to become either an RN, or a Surgical First (I think that's what it is called). Parker said she should be an RN. She is definitely one of our favorite people ever and we are always happy when we see her name on the list for Parker's room assignment.

I've written about Red before, but here is a picture of him. Red worked with us when we were on this floor before ICU. He encouraged me to finish reading The Shack, for which I am extremely grateful. He is a unique character who has a huge heart, but won't take any fuss from anyone. I would guess he is a lot softer than he wants anyone to know under a pseudo-gruff exterior. He has a wry sense of humor, is well over 6' tall, and brings homemade cookies to share when he works at night. He knows a lot about plants, doesn't own a computer, and goes hiking on Wednesdays with Amy.

Red said I could put his picture up but he wouldn't pose because he said he isn't photogenic and it would break the camera, and I couldn't get a picture of the top of his head because the flash would bounce of his baldness. He, too, makes us smile.

The only other photo I have so far is of Jim, fondly referred to as Boston Jim. We first met him when Parker was in ICU which is where Jim normally works. We were happy he was Parker's nurse upstairs today... kind of a bonus. The first time I met Jim, Parker was still unconscious. Jim came in the room and saw the Red Sox playing on tv and said, Oh good, we'll get along great if you like the Red Sox! He said that to Parker, not me. Parker, of course, didn't respond because he was still on the ventilator and wasn't aware he was even in the room.

Jim is from Boston. He is a self-proclaimed "dork," to which James responded, I'm a Physics major, I know all about being a dork! Jim's claim to fame in our life is that, until today, every single time he worked with Parker we had huge throw up nights. Like the nights when Parker was swimming in vomit. We have one hour to go on Jim's shift to break that spell.

Even though Jim is from Boston, he has an accent that sounds to me like Mississippi. He was very helpful to Parker today in dealing with some challenges he had, helped him understand that sometimes you have to look at the tiny details to see the progress he has made. I am grateful to Jim for those words.