Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. In keeping with America’s limited attention span, we’re already on to Christmas sales and decorations. However, I’d like to linger over Thanksgiving for a little while longer if you don’t mind.
My father spent his holiday undergoing major surgery. There were 
complications that left him worse for wear. Right at this exact moment, he is sleeping in his room in the Cardiac Care Unit. When he finally does get to go home, it will be because of the dozens and dozens of people who looked after him and our family, often in complete disregard of their own families, or any possibility of enjoying the holidays themselves.
Some of you might say—quite correctly—that, of course they did; it’s their job. Yes, they’re compensated for what they do, but there’s an enormous difference between doing a job for hire in a competent fashion, and doing it competently with patience and compassion.
Every single person who crossed our path, from the wonderful nurses who prepped Dad for surgery, to the ladies at the patient information desk who kept us informed, calm, and caffeinated (quite a feat I assure you), to the nurses who cared for him post-op, all of them did so with great care. They treated us as if we were part of their own family. Dad’s surgeon not only showed great professionalism and skill, but also took the time to explain things honestly. He even took the time to deliver a bit of a lecture to Yours Truly about my own health.
Yesterday, in the tedious hours when all the patients were quiet and there wasn’t much to do, I watched Dad’s primary care nurse eat her turkey dinner, such as it was, at her little desk. Even as she tried to enjoy that small moment to herself, she kept one eye scanning the computer screen that monitored the vitals of her patients. It wasn’t much of a holiday for her, or any of her colleagues for that matter, but you wouldn’t know it. Every thing they did, big or little, they did cheerfully, ungrudgingly, with loads of encouragement for their patients laced with plenty of good humor. Dad’s convalescence is going to take a very long time, but he’s well on his way thanks to them.
In a time when simple kindness is so rare, the contrast to normal behavior is all the more striking. Today the news is full of scenes of normal people acting like fools and brawling over Christmas shopping. It’s heartening to know that there are still people in this world who put others first, not because they get paid to do it, but because it’s the right thing to do.
For them, my family and I are truly thankful!
