A SPECIAL LADY NAMED PARIS

Her name was Paris.  I hope I've spelled her name right because she respectfully deserves it to be so.  She was in my hospital room at Well Star Douglas everyday I was there.  Her phone rang often, a sign of her importance at the hospital.  Her first words were always to say hi and ask how I was feeling.  She had been employed by the hospital for 27 years.  One day as she left,  I really began to think about the 27 years of service.  I have never worked at one job for 27 years.  No, I was not a job hopper. I mean I was in the convenience store business for 13 years, real estate for 12 years and sheet metal for 8 years.  I considered myself pretty stable, but 27 years at the same job?  I know many of you have been at the same job for that long, But to me it's something I can't speak of with a knowledge of experience.  And I'm sure many of you that have been in the same profession for a long period of time, have changed employers.  So again my thoughts went to 27 years at the same job at the same location.  What keeps someone in one place for that long?  They must enjoy what they do.  You could easily see that Paris liked her job as she always entered my room with a smile on her face.  As I continued to think of things that would keep me on the same job that long another that came to mind was a sense of accomplishment.  If I didn't feel my job had a purpose,  I would be gone yesterday.  I would have to assume I was accomplishing something.  I would also need the respect of my fellow workers.  Respect can cover so many things and in a hospital environment,  I would think it must be present.  I could tell Paris had the respect of her fellow employees by the way they spoke to her and did as she instructed them.  As I continued to contemplate the place I was in,  I thought how each and every one of these people that worked here must have a special 6th sense.  Besides being very busy, each time they leave one room and enter another,  they are entering the domain of and serving a different person with a different personality and different needs and on different pain levels.  STOP here a minute and really think............these hospital employees are seeing us, in some cases more open and venerable than even some of our own family members have ever seen us.  Some of us patients yell at them, even cuss them, expect our every need to be met 10 minutes ago.  When we push that button,  we want some fresh ice water NOW.  And we want, and need and expect all this service with a smile on their faces and with no expectation of a tip.  As with every person that served me during my hospital stay  Paris wasn't there for the money.  I didn't have to ask them why they worked there.  The love of serving others shown not only in their actions but also in the smile of their faces.  Paris was and is a very special person.

So now you ask:  " Who was this lady named Paris?  Was she one of your nurses?  Was she a supervisor?  Maybe your physical therapist?  You may think she worked in the business office and made my checking in and checking out easier. Or in transportation and took me down to get one of the thousand of X-rays I had.  No No and No again.
Paris worked in housekeeping.  She cleaned my room.  She always wanted to get me what I wanted.  My bed had broken one night and the next morning when she came in I asked her about getting it repaired.  She was on her phone with-in 10 seconds to maintenance, and in about 10 minutes I had a new bed in place and a lecture from Ms Paris not to ever lay there in a broken bed that long.  When the men were bringing my new bed in,  Ms Paris would tell them to do this or that and their answer was always a yes ma'am or no ma'am.  You could see the respect they had for her.

So many times in life,  especially in someplace like a hospital,  we place so much emphasis on titles, or letters that follow a persons name.  It's  Doctor so and so or LPN or RN or on and on and on.   And don't get me wrong  I so respect these professionals.  Every Doctor and nurse I had was top notch.  My stay could not have been any better.  I thank these people so much because I know it is because of God working through them that today I am writing this.  And as much as I am thankful for these Doctors and nurses and PAs and on and on and on,  I realize.......NO  I don't realize....I KNOW it was a team effort with each and every person that had a job to do when I was going through this,  doing their job.

This is a thank you note to the whole team...

    THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.........AND TO YOU PARIS....A SPECIAL THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!


"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."  ~Mother Teresa