This is Horace, an RN at Stony Brook Hospital. I just learned his name yesterday although we met more than a year ago. That day, my husband had an endoscopy because he was having trouble swallowing. It had taken a great deal of effort to get that appointment. “Don’t worry. Probably acid reflux,” the doctors told my husband. But intuition led him to believe it was something much more serious. That day, over a year ago, I sat in the hospital waiting room writing an artist bio - my first consulting project! - having lost my corporate job and our family medical insurance weeks prior. I was still editing the bio in my head while being escorted to join my husband in recovery. I did not take notice of being directed to a private room off the general floor. I did not listen when introduced to the attending nurse in the room.

I did hear distinctly when the doctor said, “I’m sorry. It’s esophageal cancer.” I do remember questioning the diagnosis: “How can you say that? You haven’t even biopsied.” And the doctor's response was, “I’m so confident that if the biopsy were negative, I would send it out again.” My world went dark. I thought about our girls and what we would tell them. I thought about the insurance and how we were going to pay. I thought about time…how much did we already lose while searching for answers? How much did we have left? And through all of this was Horace, a calm, reassuring presence in the room.

Horace feeding C apple juice and Lorna Doone cookies, handing me fresh face masks and tissues, guiding us out of the darkness. Horace walking between us, a hand on each arm, escorting us to the elevator. Horace pressing the button to the lobby. As the elevator doors closed, Horace pumped his fist in the air, “You two are going to fight, okay? Don’t you give up!” His face, fist in the air, those words played through my mind countless times over these last two years. Yesterday, at a routine follow-up, we saw Horace in the general recovery room. But this time, we were able to get his name, take a picture, and tell him what an influence he had on our lives. They say that on Earth, there are angels that walk among us. Horace is one of them.​