Everything changed when I was moved out of ICU and Mona entered; even my room seemed brighter. Upon meeting, her sense of humor was immediately apparent in the twinkle of her eye, "when I come in next, I expect to see you practicing your breathing with your spirometer." And I did. My bed was on the windowless side of the room, where my view was of the nurses' computer screen and the whiteboard - it felt like sensory deprivation. I'm not much of a television viewer, so the high point became those times Mona came into the room. She never seemed hurried, and always made the visits seem personal. While all the nurses were kind and professional, it most often seemed to be part of their job. But when Mona came in, she seemed genuinely happy and personally interested in me, and I trust she did so with all of her patients. Although I got up and out of bed to sit in the chair, use the spirometer, or go for a walk for my physical improvement, it was also to initiate interaction with Mona. She listened and asked questions as I rambled on about where I volunteer up in Sonoma County; she genuinely seemed interested. When I left the hospital, I didn't get to express my deep gratitude to Mona as she was off that day. My 7-day stay in the hospital would have been an entirely different experience had she not been one of my nurses. Her professionalism, sense of humor, and unique ability to connect with her patients served to overshadow the negative experiences I had in the ICU and I believe supported my recovery.