Thanksgiving

I was sitting at the computer doing a little charting today when I noticed a tiny pair of eyes staring at me through the partition in the nurses station. I pretended not to notice, and when the time was right, I slammed my hand on the desk and yelled, "Boo!" It scared the crap out of the cute little 7 year old boy that was in the unit visiting a family member, and when he could breath again, we both laughed for a long time.

I asked him what he was up to, and he plopped himself onto a chair in front of me. He was Vietnamese, and although his family members didn't speak any English, he did just fine. When I asked him his name, he said, "L-a-n-c-e." Like an idiot, I said, "Elancia?" I thought it was some Asian name that I didn't know. He looked at me like I was crazy and again spelled his name, "L-a-n-c-e." I kept guessing, different versions of "Elansie" until the other nurse looked at me and said, "Are you stupid? He is spelling his name, it's Lance." Um, yes. I am stoopid, or at least I certainly felt that way.

Lance kind of attached himself to me for the afternoon, and I had the opportunity to talk to him a little bit. He was the same age as Daws and also enjoying the first grade. As we were talking, I asked him where his mom was. He said, "She's dead." I told him that I was sorry, and asked him if the man sitting outside my patient's room was his father. He shook his head and then told me that his dad was in prison. I asked him about his mother, and he told me that she had died a few months ago and then asked the man something in Vietnamese. The man then explained to me that she died in a car accident. In talking with Lance, he told me about his little brother who was six, and a little sister who was 2. It was all I could do not to cry, especially when he got emotional telling me that after his mom died, some other mom and dad took his baby sister to live in California.

There really is nothing like a shift at the hospital to make you grateful for all that you have. I have it good, and I need to remember that.