Dear Sixth floor team,
Thank you is not big enough but I begin this letter with thanks to all of you. There has not been a single day pass since I started here when I have not been met with such warmth and kindness that my heart has remained full for months now.
But there are other things of course too. Watching you all work has been a great experience. The love, care, professionalism, humor, wisdom, tenacity, perseverance, and so many others qualities you all possess in droves has been an honor to witness. Each and every one of you has your training, your degrees, your skills, but the pleasure for me has been to see how you all manifest those good things through your own unique selves. That is the last special bit, that it has been a joy to see how you all put your hearts into making sure that the last days or months of a person’s life are valued, celebrated, that life is full for those who are placed under your care. It is not so much an under care in that sense but instead a lifted care. So many times I have seen that a person who has suffered terribly came here and they improved so much through the care and attention, the good medicine given them. People may still pass but once here they pass with a large measure of love and dignity and well thought out care that has meant that I have felt, from my view, that it was truly a great thing to be part of your team. It has been a pleasure to say, “I’m with them.”
But that is all sensible sounding isn’t it? How my heart has seen things is another way and some of you already know this. One day, I was thinking, “what is it I am feeling here, this total joy and thanks” and I thought to myself, “I feel like a young girl who is not very tall and has been blessed enough to have landed herself in a field of wild flowers, that everywhere I turn my head I see a unique and beautiful flower and yes fellas that means you too! Lovely everywhere I look.” So no matter what I say sensibly, my heart says to you all, keep on being yourselves. You are all so precious and I am glad to bear witness to that. From my view I have been so touched and amazed how such a large group of people could all be so blessedly lovely. And I will not say anymore or you will all get puffed up!
The patients are embedded in my heart and so are you all. To do this work is its own reward and I have loved serving those along with you that have lined this peaceful hall. Each hand I have held, all those I have loved here, those who have filled the beds, I carry the blessing of them with me too. It is good that a heart is like a womb and can keep expanding to accommodate all the goodness it sees, that then lives within it. If not, I should tip over with this five months of good.
Thank you for all your goodness to me and know that each of you is cherished in a way that would not end whether I was here 5 months or 50 years. Preciousness is one of those things that only increases and you are all precious to me.
I wish you all well, Paula