I was a heart patient at LGH. During my recovery week at the hospital, Pollyann "Betsy" was one of a team of nurses who cared for me. All were wonderful, doing their best to make me as comfortable as possible. Betsy stands out in my mind as someone special in that group. I have never been overnight in a hospital before. I anticipated it with dread. After surgery, I was deposited in a room on the 5th floor and introduced to the nurses and medical technicians who would care for me. I had no real pain, but the number of tubes, wires, etc protruding from my body connecting me to various monitoring machines took me getting used to.

Here is where Betsy began to distinguish herself. She talked to me about all that and did so in a very direct but humane way. Perhaps it was in response to comments I made, whatever, something clicked. Her candid intelligent remarks to me were reassuring. Betsy is tall and as she towered over me it was not threatening, but comforting. She always asked if I was cold or needed more water, the standard nurse stuff, but from her, it was like the attention of a mother caring for a sick child.

When she had to interrupt my sleep, check vitals or draw blood it was kind and gentle, the disturbance passed quickly. Conversations were exactly that; no interrogations as to my health. She encourage, joked, and went efficiently about her tasks until I looked forward to her making the rounds. I am almost 75 years old. People my age often complain about millennials, or generation X, Y, or Z that they do not communicate well, are distant or distracted and know nothing about service to others. Betsy falls into one of those categories but she is the exact opposite. She is kind, attentive, intelligent, and gracious. If whatever generation comes next has her qualities we will all be in good hands.