“He reached in to hand me what I assumed was my license back. It wasn’t until my hand had closed around it that its unexpected bulkiness drew my eyes to it. I burst into tears. This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking.”
“My fellow rockstar nurses had to code a patient while wearing full PPE. After seeing a whole group of people gathering in a culdesac in my neighborhood yesterday, I felt I needed to share this.”
“I got a phone call from my mom. ‘Nana is in the hospital.’ I needed to spend her last few days by her side, just like she spent my whole life by mine. She didn’t know how little time she had left, and we wanted to keep it that way. I boarded a plane right away to go home.”
“I’m more uncomfortable in the grocery store, without my mask and gloves or hand sanitizer, than I am at the hospital. To the people dropping off masks and food for those of us on the front lines, we appreciate it more than you know.”
“With so many kids already receiving free or reduced-price meals, how are families going to cope if they lose their income AND school meals? I wondered what I could do to bring back some of the happiness the kids feel at school while in the lunchroom, with their favorite teacher, or playing at recess.”
“Our loss had to be so bad that it was newsworthy. Without it, Mac wouldn’t be here with us. If I didn’t believe it before, I now most certainly knew that every damn thing that happened TO ME over the last 40 years of my life actually happened FOR ME.”
“I stepped in dog poop. I cried tonight because I felt spent. I watched a video on how, in Spain, they don’t have enough ventilators, and so no one over the age of 65 is getting them, only the young. And then I cried a little more because I felt guilty for feeling spent.”
“We will do everything we need to do to keep each other’s families safe and sane until we can hug each other again. I’m lucky to have found my people.”
“One breath. One step. One hour at a time. We will carry on, in whatever manner we can. Not because we are in control or because we know things, but because we choose to show up and love every piece of ourselves. Steady on, my friends. We are in this together.”
“You texted me at 10:34 p.m., and I responded two minutes later…but you never responded back because it was too late. Your death wrecked me but your life and love and death made me the nurse (and person) I am today.”
