A Very Personal Story
This story is
told by Susan, a retired nurse. All names have been changed.
Having been a
nurse for several years, there were not a lot of extraordinary days. Things were fairly routine, and seldom did I
come across anything that shocked me. So
when I got a new patient, Catherine, it seemed like a normal day: An older lady
in good spirits, but with a broken hip.
Following
Catherine's surgery, she was recovering nicely, and I had some free time, so I
was visiting with her. I found her life
story to be very interesting, as she had some difficult times as a young
woman. Pregnant at 17, she was forced to
move away until the birth of her son, and then, after placing him up for
adoption, she returned home, only to have her family move away due to fear of
being shamed. Catherine said she never
gave up the thought of wishing she could find her son, which I understood, as
my father was himself adopted and often thought that way about his birth
parents. Three days prior to Catherine's
release date, we again had a talking session, she was such an interesting
woman. This time something was slightly
different. She talked of the small town
she once loved and lived in until the time she became pregnant. As she talked of the local pharmacy, and the
one of a kind soda mixture, it all sounded eerily familiar to me, I assumed she
must have mentioned it before.
Related: What does an RN Do?
Catherine
developed an infection and had to remain hospitalized, so we continued to visit
daily. I asked Catherine one day if she
had any regrets in life since she was on that subject, and then of course the
son she gave up was her main regret. She
said that she was so disappointed he could never meet his extended family as
well as her; she never even was allowed to see him.
Catherine
went on to heal, and returned to her assisted living facility. I made the decision to start a diligent
search for my dad's biological mother. I was inspired by Catherine and wanted
to make sure my own father did not end up with regrets. The agency I hired to locate my father's
biological parents were very prompt. I
was told within 3 days that his father was killed in war action even before his
birth. 2 days later I was told his
mother had been located and was in fact still alive. It took some convincing, but I finally got my
dad to agree to go meet his birth mother and her family. This was a huge undertaking, but it was
finally paying off. The following week,
my parents, my brothers and I went to a local restaurant to meet my dad's birth
mother. Her family had reserved a
banquet room, so we were led to that area.
As
we stepped in and were greeted, I was in for the shock of my life, it was
Catherine, my patient from months earlier.
Neither of us knew what to say, and the others in the room were
surprised at our reaction. By the end of
the evening, we were all acquainted, and it was like we had always been
family. My dad could not have been
happier meeting his half siblings, and cousins, and I was once again reunited
with my most memorable patient.
Comments
Post a Comment