The Most Beautiful Moment In The World

The nurse was in regular clothes, which probably means she had come in on her day off.  It was her turn to speak at the supportive gathering of medical caregivers. She looked nervously at the physical therapist, her co-worker, beside her.  The physical therapist had her arm around the back of the nurse’s chair, was leaning forward, nodding encouragingly, dripping with emotional support.  As she opened her mouth her emotions pulled her back, hesitated her.  The redness grew around her eyes and her voice faltered.  She took a breath and whooshed it out between pursed lips.  She looked down, then out to nowhere in particular and let herself remember.

We listening caregivers leaned in.  Our bodies spoke in a chorus of the loudest language, “We are here for you.  Speak your pain, speak your truth.  We will metabolize your words with love, and we will catch you as they fall.”  An unscripted story tumbled from her, more raw than she intended perhaps.  The patient she cared for was so vulnerable, needed unprecedented care, had no voice, could not participate in her own life, just as the nurse could not make decisions about whether the care should continue.  She watched the exquisite being suffer under her care, sometimes because of her care.  They were both helpless in a sense.  It shook her.  It shakes us all.

Her story had a wave of force that pulsed through her audience, and washed back on her as a flood of love.  Tears reflected her own, encouragement, wisdom, compassion, a willingness to bear her burdens.  Some had very broad shoulders as they have born a similar load most of their lives and know just how to transfer the weight, and go on.  

I wondered, at that moment, is anything in the world happening right now that is more beautiful than this? I hope that level of humanity is as ordinary as we all were in that moment.  I hope what I saw wasn’t a glimpse of the extraordinary, but of reality seen through a prism collecting ever-present humanity and projecting it with the clarity of a full rainbow.

For all I know, that was the most beautiful thing happening in that moment in the entire world.


Comments

Heidi said…
Incredible! Beautiful. You.
1:04 AM
MOM Wilcox said…
So wonderful that she had a supportive group to help her shoulder the burden. I am glad you could identify the moment so beautifully.
5:55 AM
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