The connection Garrett formed with our family as we said goodbye to my grandfather, after he suffered a devastating stroke, was truly remarkable. As someone who has worked in both EMS transport and home healthcare, I have spoken to and worked with countless nurses and healthcare professionals from all sorts of specialties and backgrounds from med/surg, to ICU, to long term care facilities, hospice, and more. Garrett demonstrated true compassion and empathy at an extremely rare level. You can teach medical knowledge and skills as much as you want, but you truly can't teach someone to genuinely have compassion for their patients and families. Garrett was with us every step of the way from when we made the difficult decision to take grandpa off the ventilator, and the several times when his passing seemed imminent despite multiple declines and improvements in grandpa's condition. He helped my grandma get into the bed with grandpa so she could cuddle and hold him and out of the bed when she needed to get up to care for herself. His bedside manner was excellent, always calming and reassuring. Many tears were shared just over the course of his shift, and there was definitely a strong connection and rapport built with him that brought an immense amount of peace and comfort to our family in even the most difficult moments. I've never met another nurse with the level of genuine compassion and dedication that Garrett demonstrated with us. I feel so truly lucky that we had such a wonderful individual as part of the care team at such a difficult time. I truly and firmly believe that the recognition for the way he goes above and beyond to care for his patients and their families is more than deserved. There are no words to express the amount of gratitude I have for Garrett being with us and the care he provided not only for Grandpa but for our family as well.