Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Thank you!

I work in a nursing home, my background is in social work, but currently I am the admissions director for the facility. My favorite part of my job is developing relationships with the residents and their families. Not just the standard "if there is anything that I can do for you..." business, but the type of relationships that I know when their grandkids are having recitials and what kind of diet that they are on~ those kind of relationships.

So, I was talking to one of my resident's daughters today, who recently lost a sister. She is having a real hard time with the loss of her sister because her death was so sudden. While she was talking about how hard it is to not be with her sister anymore, she stopped and said "I'm sure you know exactly how I feel after losing your daughter." Wow~ someone actually acknowledged and honoured my daughter in the light that she should be...not just as a baby, but as a human being with significant value. I did tell her that losing my daughter as given me a greater empathy and capacity to understand the pain of losing a loved one, a quality that I did not possess prior to Lily's death.

I can't tell you how thrilled (for lack of a better word) that someone took two seconds to acknowledge that, although brief, Lily's life was just as valuable as anyone elses~ and for that I'm grateful.

3 comments:

Never forgetting Gregory said...

I love that. I'm so glad she acknowledged your daughter that way. I like that lady!

Beth said...

What a wonderful comment! That was such a nice thing to say! :)

Unknown said...

That is really great! I left you an award on my blog....