Life is wonderful

I'm more and more impressed every day with the importance of enjoying every single moment of life and making the most of every memory and time with loved ones. I had a patient die recently, and though I'm getting used to taking care of dying patients, it never gets easy to see death slowly, painfuly take over life. Thoughts race through your mind as you see the last few breaths fade away --thoughts that this person was once a vibrant, beautiful life who loved and was loved. My patient that died was completely alone, except for the nurses taking care of her. I found her still -- the nurse had checked on her only 5 or 8 minutes before and she was still breathing, shallow though it was. Her son refused to visit her once she came to our floor, so for two days, she laid silently in her hospital bed, fighting for air. They say hearing is the last sense to go before you die, and it breaks my heart to think of that poor old lady laying there hearing no one nearby. No family to cry over her, no son or daughter to hold her hand, or tuck her blankets tighter around her, or brush her hair back from her face.

I don't know what the circumstances were surrounding the family -- what hard feelings there were that hadn't been let go, or what caused the son to refuse to see her one last time. But it really made me think about my own life. Whatever hard feelings I might harbor towards someone, family or friends -- they are so insignificant in the grand scheme of things! What grudge is worth holding onto when life is never guaranteed, and something could happen to any one of us at any time? Every day that we stay angry towards another person, it becomes just that much easier to not make amends.

I just want to encourage everyone to live life for every single day. It's not worth getting angry over small things. Life is so amazing and wonderful, don't waste a minute of it!