Jim Miller

Jim was nominated by an appreciative family member:

My father's congestive heart failure finally seemed to be catching up with him. Brought into the hospital after his defibrillator fired, he spent 10 of his last days at TCH under the exceptional care of the folks at 7 South.

The days and nights were difficult on Dad, and no less wearying and fretful for us as his family. Countless questions, copious notes about prescriptions and dosages, little sleep, no change left in our pockets because it had all gone to vending machines, overused minutes on cell phones to keep one another updated...and emotions running high.

Yet in this time of physical and emotional turmoil, I was blessed - simply, and generously, by a stranger.

During one of many late nights at the hospital, I had gone into the waiting area to call a family member and offer an update on Dad. This family member, who was also struggling with the physical and emotional turmoil of Dad's situation, was particularly disrespectful and unreceptive to my call. Despite my efforts to explain to this person, things just got worse and by the time I hung up, I was crying. I simply returned to my father's room and continued to whimper.

During this tumultuous phone call, a nurse from 7 South had been taking a break in the waiting area. He really had no choice but to overhear my end of the conversation. He was not Our Nurse. I hadn't seen him before. I hadn't talked to him. He had no connection with me...or so I thought.

After I had been back in Dad's room for a couple of minutes, that nurse walked in. He put a cup of ice and a Sprite on the table next to me, placed his hand on my shoulder and said Are you going to be OK? I'm guessing that I mumbled something in response between my sniffles. But what I clearly remember is that during my pain, a stranger had taken time to comfort and acknowledge me. A compassionate person who saw someone in need and took the initiative to reach out, simply because he could.

My sincere thanks to Jim Miller for his random act of kindness.

It served as a light to me during a very dark night.