One day back in 1980 I was visiting my parents in Matteson, Illinois.  I had been out of nursing school for a year and was currently working at an NICU in Chicago.  I was tired, stressed, burnt out, challenged and questioning my decision to become a nurse. 

I am thinking I have cried over the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” for at least 60 years.  It is, by far, one of my favorite movies.  As many times as I have watched it I never and I mean NEVER fail to cry at the end.  

As a new nurse I had worked the night shift so after dinner I laid down to catch up on some sleep.  It was Thanksgiving and I woke to the loud voices of my family reminiscent of 20 years before on a cold Thanksgiving day.

My Mom died in 2009 and a day still does not go by that I don’t think “oh, I have to call my Mom about that.” 

I have always told my boys “What goes around, comes around.”

Mei unconsciously fingered the large opening in her upper lip.

Forty years ago, I experienced a miracle—the first of many in my nursing career.

Every summer there was a flurry of excitement when we started seeing Circus Vargas posters around town. 

The other day I read about a little girl who fell to her death through a hole in the Golden Gate Bridge.

Fay and Jeannie are best friends.  You might not know it if you approached them in the hall.