What my day might have been like

There's a post on fb that tries to describe a day in the life of a paediatric nurse - its good at giving a glimpse whilst also showing how hard it is to describe - and its made me think, and decide to have a go myself...

 

So - if you ask me what my day has been like - I might tell you about the great place I work, the fab people I work with, where the focus is on the patients not politics.....or I might tell you what its like to work for a children's hospice, to have a job title that can literally stall any casual conversation. I might tell you what it's like to welcome parents visiting for the first time and see the fear and the dread on their faces because why, in any sense of reality, would they be pleased to need to visit a children's hospice? Or to visit a child in their home, and be greeted by a mother telling you she has been dreading you coming, because, again, my presence reminds her that her child is going to die...

 

I might tell you about those parents who at the end of their visit comment that at last it feels like there is a ray of sunshine in the midst of hell, or the mother that tells me that today she is pleased to see me, because today she needs me to take away her child's pain, and trusts me that I can.

 

Or of the many times families crawl over the door, knowing that we will share their burden while they rest...

 

I might tell you of the children - so many, many children, who I have cared for, who I've held as the laugh and chuckle, who I've held as I've carried them to rest in our 'little room'. Or of the brothers and sisters who play and laugh and cry, and learn that even though their sibling has died, life can go on, and its ok to be happy and sad.

 

I'd tell you of the parents, who's endless courage gives me courage, to whom I can give a word of encouragement, a word that shines a light into their misery, who I can hold up, so that they can hold their child, just a little bit longer. Or who might ask me to hold them for them just a little while.

 

I might well tell you of the many times I sit in traffic, or on a train, or in a meeting, because these are easy things to talk about.

 

I might, just might tell you about all the times my God breaks my heart with what breaks His, constantly giving me the choice about whether I walk this path with Him and with these families. Foe now the only possible answer is 'yes'.

 

There's many things I might say, to try and describe my day, but I doubt I'd do it justice.