Our mother made us promise not to let her pass in the hospital. She wanted to pass at home peacefully surrounded by her family. Her biggest fear was being on life support and dying alone. My first encounter with Tara was when I walked into the ICU unit where I saw my mother hooked up to dozens of machines. As you can imagine it was a very emotional moment seeing my mother in this condition and knowing what my mom did and did not want in her remaining time. Tara immediately and tenderly approached me, introduced herself, and asked if she could hug me. Tara's hug was the best hug ever and exactly what I needed. She gave me all the time I needed to compose myself and was prepared to answer all my questions. Our family decided to remove life support and let my mom pass. We have a very large family who wanted to say their final goodbyes. Tara took time to explain to everyone what that process would be and assured us that my mother would not be in pain or stress after being removed from life support. Tara allowed us to be there for as much and as long as we wanted. Not only was Tara a special unit nurse, but she was also a compassionate, caring human being. She even took the time to clip some of my mom's hair and tie it with ribbon for those who wanted it. It takes a special person to do the work that Tara does on a daily basis but it takes so much more to do it in such a giving way that she does. My entire family hopes Tara can be recognized for her special talent and human way.