As we grow older, we watch our parents grow older and it’s hard to watch their health decline. My father throughout the years has not always been the easiest patient to care for in his hospital stays as he always just wants to go home in the comfort of his own four walls. This was his first stay at Gundersen and I was preparing myself to go see him after work knowing that the stubborn Vietnam veteran that worked in the OR during his time of war was probably wanting to go home and in a mood that would be hard to strengthen just one week before Christmas. When I walked into his room, he was happy as he was starting to feel better but also couldn’t stop telling me stories of his nurse. My father suffers from neuropathy…restless legs that will keep him up for days. This was not what he was in the hospital for…but Gio Aguilar took the time to talk to my father…ask him questions and gave him hope of trying something new to help when his legs would start to bother him. He took the time to not only care for my father but also make us as a family feel comfortable as he also made sure we were okay as well. This is not something that is taught…his empathy, care, knowledge, and compassion is what makes his patients feel loved. He called my father “Doc” as he talked to him about his time in Vietnam, this man is one of a kind! He rallied with my father as he started to feel better knowing that he may go home the next day which was a day that had begun with the thoughts of sending him to UW or the VA. The care that he was given in the small town of Boscobel is better than my father would have gotten being transported. I feel this nurse needs to be recognized as our family will never forget the care and compassion that he gave to my father. As I walked the long hallway out to my vehicle, I felt something I have never felt before…I trusted the care that my father was being given. In the time that he spent with our family…he would be welcomed at our home anytime…he became family to us.