Errica Roberts always looked for the positive in my mom. She encouraged her to continue to get up and sit in her chair each day. One time, my mom looked at her and said, “I’m supposed to be dying”. Bracing myself for a hard conversation, this nurse looked right at her and said: “Do you feel like you’re dying? Because you don’t look like you’re dying”.

My mom agreed; she didn’t feel like she was dying. My mom was discharged from Hospice in April. She’s doing great. While I truly believe these things happen for reasons we aren’t meant to understand, I also believe that Errica's love, true care, faith, and compassion made a difference.

Errica treated my mom and me like we were her own family. She wasn’t here to help my mom die. She came here with the attitude of helping her live, and if that included dying, she was here for that too. She cared for my mom like she was her own mother. She provided medical care with the greatest amount of compassion, dignity, and respect.

I’ve always said that during any crisis, you can count on one hand the people who stepped up and had the greatest impact. Quite often, they were placed in our path because they are extraordinary at what they do. Errica is on that list. I’d like to recognize her for always doing more than enough, incredible insight, and commitment to her families (she always refers to her families), representing the values Trinity says they hold true and important, and helping make a scary situation less overwhelming.

“We got this,” she told me once. Errica sets the bar high.