A new day has arrived and a new illness has attacked my mother. She is once again a patient at BMH. The ileus and ischemic colitis she now wrestles with, have kept her here for the past five weeks. She has been blessed with the nurturing care of many, many excellent caregivers. Her nurses have been exemplary. Names like Kathleen, Robin, Tricia, and Zella bring a smile to my face as I think of their tender card for my dear mother, who is not always as easy a patient as she was fifteen years ago. In this crowded field fo fine nurses, one is outstanding. This time I would like to let someone know of her work ethic and attitude. Michele has provided immediate relief from my mother's various discomforts (no matter how small or insignificant). Through her unwavering attention and gentle ways, she has helped my mother to recapture some of the natural incentive for recovery that she posessed fifteen years ago. Her ordinary and special administrations have made my mother feel special and valued. She has been able to coax my mother into welcoming needed services that she had previously declined. Every medicine Michele injects, shampoo she massages, every lift into a stroke chair, each bed pan she places and empties, every blood pressure reading she records, and all of the acts that she performs as a highly competent nurse, is offered with genuine grace and goodwill. She is patient and tolerant of ill humor. Michele lobbies doctors for orders that are obviously needed, but somehow overlooked. She treats her colleagues with respect: although she does whatever her patient needs, regardless of the parameters of her job description. She does not flinch at the pettiness of other caregivers who are stingily aware of the line separating what they must do, from what they can decline. She makes it abundantly clear that her patient is her patient. Michele is fully immersed in healing the total person. Even when she is at home, she calls the hospital room to ensure that the patient is following through with prescribed therapy. She cheers on the reluctant patient, even from a distance. She knows that it is important for the forward progress not to end with the withdrawal of her rallying physical presence. Michele shows the spirit that should be at the heart of every nurse called to the profession. I have known her less than a week, but I am forever in her debt for the huge contribution she has made to my mother's potential for a fuller recovery in the rehab facility, which she is soon to be discharged.