What can I say? I am normally fearful and skeptical of the medical system, so you have to know how ill and terrified I had to be to succumb to calling the rescue squad on that particular Sunday and to be in the hands of people I did not trust while feeling dreadful, not to mention awareness of my being shoved into a helicopter. My memories are a bit fuzzy, but I was diagnosed with an aortic dissection and rushed to surgery at the main campus.

Morgan helped fill in the gaps, saying I had stuck my hand out as if begging for someone to hold it, and she was the one who grabbed it. An act of supreme kindness and compassion, in my mind, the true core of nursing if ever there was one, that brings tears to my eyes even as I write this.

I am glad I survived for numerous reasons, among them that I can take this opportunity to recognize Morgan not only for that spontaneous act, but for coming by while I was still in the step-down unit to say hi and convey how glad she was that I was doing well.