In the trenches

So I have this wild hair up my butt to finish writing something about the people I work with most often. One of my hobbies is to do digital scrapbooking, or digital design ( if I wanna sound more important, I suppose) For some reason the layout designing is proving harder than I would like. Tonight, I think I got the written piece done. I present that written bit for y'all. I am hoping the rest with fall into place at some point:



To call any of us "angels of mercy" would be quite the misnomer. We
joke that we are all going to Hell one day, fact is, some nights we
feel like we are already there. But we decided, we are at least, going
together. It is being together that gets us through the worse nights
and situations that are just staggering. We work the night shift
together month after month, year after year. And I wouldn't have it
any other way.

I have spent as many holidays with them as I have with my family. I
am sure they have seen me cry more than almost anyone else in the
world and they can make me laugh harder than I ever thought
possible.They know more about me, my character, my life, than I am
sure they want. We have spent time caring for people and doing
things that you can't begin to fathom, unless you are a nurse too.


There are the days when Dave has brushed my car off of snow, because he knows I am tired/cranky and he got to the parking lot first. Days that Linda comes and kisses me on the top of me and told me she was so happy to see me. Days that Karen heard me cough once and ran off to force a concoction of Airborne and vitamin C down my throat with a hot tea chaser.Days Laurie and I drive home together just so we can stop for breakfast and to decompress from the night,spending a few hours just being friends,and questioning if some of the insanity of the night really happened. Days Molly let me lay my head on her shoulder and said " you don't even need to say it, baby. I understand" Days that Barb told me a story that made me laugh so hard I hit my head on the desk and didn't even care. I am sure I am brain damaged from it and from the lack of oxygen, as well.

I know them so well and feel good that they know me the same way.
When we are stressed in our personal lives, coming to work is the
often the relief. Molly calls it "paid group therapy". Indeed. It is
a piece of my life I need so much and have a hard time explaining it
to anyone outside of "us"

I worry about them. They worry about me. I love them. They love me.
They are not the people I work with, they are the people that share
my life. I can't imagine not having all of them around me. They are
irreverent, intelligent, caring, hilarious, friendly, aggravating,
strong, sensitive, sometimes moody( even you, big guy), sometimes annoying,quite often exhausted and all the time incredible.



bottom row (left to right) Laurie, Barb, Linda and Dave
Back row: ( left to right) Karen, Molly and me