Brandon Bert will forever be a memory of my 50th birthday. I certainly wasn’t planning to spend it in the hospital, but because of Brandon it was still a special day. The day itself was going well, I was feeling good and fever free for 16 hours (I needed 24 in order to go home). I was so happy and hopeful that I was on my way to clearance! Then sweet Brandon came in that evening giving my nurse a break and took my vitals. He told me I had a fever. I hadn’t felt it come on and was devasted. In true mature fashion, I (embarrassingly) started crying. I’m not sure he understood what a setback this was for me, but I could see how concerned he was. He was so kind and caring but there was nothing else I needed so he left.

Two minutes later, Brandon popped his sweet head back in my doorway, and said, full of excitement, “hey, we have ice cream and popsicles in case you didn’t know!” It’s like he couldn’t leave me sad, even though I knew he was busy. And you know what? Turns out a popsicle is exactly what I needed to feel better. Oh, and it doesn’t stop there. Maybe 20 minutes later, he returns with his nurse manager with streamers and a happy birthday sign and proceeds to decorate my room! And it doesn’t stop there either. Maybe two hours later, nine Kaiser nurses, including Brandon of course (who I suspect organized it), serenaded me with happy birthday at my door. They made me a balloon “bouquet” made from rubber gloves and gave me a card which they all signed with truly caring personal messages just for me.

These are people who don’t even know me, and I know are so busy, yet they took the time to brighten my day. Their time, actions and words meant more than they will ever know. And it didn’t just mean the world to me. I sent pictures and the story of this to my family, and it made them all tear up with gratitude. They’ve been so sad that I’m here, especially on my birthday, and are worried about me. I’m not supposed to have many visitors (immunocompromised) so I couldn’t see most of them. But these acts of love and kindness made them happy, made them know I was being taken care of therefore they were not so sad anymore either. I’m not sure Brandon will ever know how much this truly meant to all of us. And turns out, because of him, it was a memorable 50th birthday after all.