Fifty Days of Gratitude: Day 16

Many years ago, pre-seminary, (*does math in her head*) okay, 24 years ago, to be exact, I applied for a job at our local hospital as a patient advocate in the Emergency Department. The shift was three evenings/week from 4pm-midnight. Every other week those three days were Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In the Emergency Room.

Let's be clear, I had ZERO medical experience or knowledge. And, at the risk of sounding really obtuse or woo woo, I felt somehow led or called to this job. I interviewed with a no-nonsense, tough woman who was the head Patient Representative at the hospital. She had me shadow the person who was the lead patient advocate in the ER. He reported that he thought I could do it. And, turns out, I did.

I LOVED that job. It was almost never the same thing twice. I learned to listen well and listen between the lines. I learned when to call out BS and when to just let it linger in the air, unaddressed. I sat with people as they died. I told parents their children had died. I became a designated organ requestor. I learned the very particular gallows humor that exists in an ER staff because otherwise no one would survive that much heartbreak. I learned how to prep people for a helicopter transport even though I'd never been in one - "is it scary to fly in one?" No idea, but you're going to find out. I got my butt handed to me by the doc on call on more than one occasion for being "too soft and trusting". (she's a g-d drug seeker, Julie, when will you see that???) and I learned again when to draw from toughness and when to draw from compassion. I learned to trust my gut.

I don't know that any other job could have prepared me as well for parish ministry.

That tough, no-nonsense boss later came to my ordination and would always come hear me preach at my internship site. A couple of years ago, she came again when I returned there as a guest preacher. She told me that she almost didn't hire me because she thought I was "too educated" and maybe not tough enough and that I proved her wrong. She thanked me, when, in truth, she was the one who deserved my deepest gratitude. Her ongoing support, her encouragement, her saying out loud "I am so proud of you" was what my heart needed then and it was what it needed today when she called me out of the blue. Turns out a friend of hers is the sister of a woman who worked at my seminary when I was a student. The sister has since lost both of her parents and has realized that no one remembers Donna anymore. My former boss thought I might be willing to listen to her, because I learned from her how important listening is.

For this tough, kind, no-nonsense, compassionate woman who took a chance on me twenty four years ago....I am grateful.