We took Jeremiah into the hospital for an outpatient surgery
this week. We believed it to be routine, but as a parent you can’t help but
feel a little anxiety as you entrust your child to the care of strangers. Everyone
was super helpful and kind so we had a great experience and his surgery went
well. We especially enjoyed Nurse Carrie. She was a wiz with the IV. Another
nurse came into our room first and we assumed she would be the one the anesthesiologist
spoke of who would put in Jeremiah’s IV. She quickly let us know that she had
called in Nurse Carrie because she is the best with IVs. She used to work with infants
so whenever a child needs an IV, she is the one you want. Nurse Carrie had a
great bedside manner and was so sweet to him every step of the way. She had
that IV in and secure in no time and worked to calm him through it all. After
he returned to his room from surgery and recovery, Nurse Carrie came back to
tend to him until he was discharged. She told him how handsome he was and how
she can’t wait to hear about his budding basketball career as he gets older.
She was such an encourager.
Once Nurse Carrie heard Tyrone talking about his work in
science at the University, as he explained anesthetizing mice to Jeremiah, she
started to tell us all about her son. She talked about immigrating to the US from
the Philippines when he was a young boy. He began his American education in the
3rd grade knowing very little English. She was worried about how he
would do in school, but after the first month of sitting in his class as his
translator, he took off and began to excel. He graduated 13th in his
high school class out of 250. He knew from the time he was young he wanted to
pursue civil engineering. He attended the University of Arkansas and was
offered a job with the department of transportation before he graduated. She worked
an extra job to make sure he didn’t have to worry about working while he was in
college. She talked about his girlfriend
and was hopeful of an engagement soon. She spoke so proudly of her son. She
smiled as she described the closeness of their relationship and how he hugs and
kisses her even as an adult. She was thankful to God for his blessing and
provision. She giggled as she talked about how much her son loves her homemade
lasagna and asked her to make some on her visit to his new house in Illinois
where he recently moved. As she told her story, she continued to open packages
of crackers for Jeremiah and refill his cup of ice with red Powerade. I can’t
help but think that Jeremiah reminded of her of her son when he was young.
I have been learning to value people. I value people not for
how hard they work or how smart they are although those are wonderful
attributes. I value people because they bare the image of an Almighty Creator
and they bring richness, understanding and blessing to our world. Sometimes
valuing people means giving them space to live and learn at their own pace,
encouraging them as opportunities arise. While other times valuing people means
challenging them and letting them challenge you. Valuing people always includes
being compassionate and kind, seeking first to understand rather than insisting
your opinion be heard.
As a citizen of the United States of America, unless you are
descended from American slavery or a Native American (stories for another post), you probably have a story
similar to Nurse Carrie’s somewhere in your family’s history. A brave young
man, woman or family made a decision to board a boat or a plane and come to this
country for an opportunity to create something, to build a legacy for
themselves and their children. One of the most beautiful things about our country
is the depth and diversity of people’s stories. People have been coming here
from all over the planet for centuries and have each contributed to making this
place, albeit imperfect, special and unlike any other country in the world. It
would be a sad day if ever a family like Nurse Carrie’s was barred from
immigrating to the United States because they didn’t measure up to some list of
prerequisites designed to filter who is “worthy” of being a part of this nation.
