My husband was diagnosed with aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was hospitalized several times, and each time Debbie was in the rotation of nurses who took care of him. All the nurses on the oncology wing were caring and competent, but we developed a special relationship with Debbie.

During his last hospital stay, she was frequently his nurse. She impressed us with her ability to show compassion and give us hope, while at the same time helping us to see the reality of his declining health. She always knew what he needed and made sure he received it in a timely manner, whether it required a call to the doctor, personally retrieving the blood products he required, or creative problem-solving to make him more comfortable.

During his last week at the hospital, he was unresponsive. Debbie talked to him and treated him with as much respect as she would have if he had been talking with her. She learned that we had recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary and used much-deserved time off to play our wedding song on her piano and record it. The next time she was in his room she placed her phone on his pillow where he could hear her playing “More.” When the hospital changed its visitation policy to “no visitors“ due to COVID, Debbie helped to get an exception for me to stay with him and for our children to visit him. She comforted us as we prepared for our move to hospice and texted several times while we were there to check on him.

Debbie demonstrated an amazing ability to juggle professionalism and compassion while going above and beyond in caring for my husband and for me. Debbie is our angel.