We're a special family!

(Posted by Grant.)

It has been a tough time and a dark time. I've had trouble staying positive. I got some encouraging news tonight and I'd like to share it.

Our nurse tonight is Lisa. She's worked here over 25 years and her daughter also works here. We've had her daughter before, but this is the first time we've met Lisa. When Lisa came in, she introduced herself and said she had heard good things about us. During one of our previous stays, when one of our other nurses was leaving the floor, she said that we were a special family. I wanted to ask her what she meant by special, but, of course, she left. For the most part, we don't feel very special. We frequently feel very sad and very lost. Don't get me wrong, we know that we have great friends and a great family and that we've gotten great support from both, so we feel like we _have_ a special family, but we don't feel like we _are_ a special family.

Hopefully, this explains why I was so anxious to hear what Lisa had heard about us. She told us that she never got us before because there is usually a line of nurses that sign up for Natalie. (We knew that. A handful of nurses fight to get abused by Natalie, to trade banter with her and to answer her endless questions. Natalie's regulars weren't here tonight, so Lisa finally got to meet us.) Lisa said that everybody loves Natalie, that she is a joy to be around, and that she has a nice family. Tell me about the family part! We've heard the stuff about Natalie and we get it. She is spunky and fun, so we know why they like her. Enough about her, what about us? Ok, what about me?

Lisa said something about nice parents and good parenting. I told her that helped, because we don't really know what everyone else does, we only know what we do, the mistakes we make, and how we feel. An unbiased outside perspective is invaluable. We never know if our friends are just trying to lift our spirits. Well, Natalie says she wants me to stop writing on the blog, so I guess it is time to turn in. To all a good night!

Just read this to Natalie.
-g