Natalie from Union Grove, Alabama is our featured “Precious Moment” writer of the week! Thanks for sharing Natalie! Your appreciation gift is in the mail!
Natalie writes:
A couple years ago, I was doing house visits out in the country, and I had an old dairy farmer as a patient. You could tell he was a tough guy, but for some reason, we clicked. He was a very proud man and I got to know him well over the year that I made visits to his farm as his nurse. It was nearing the end of his life and he became bedbound, then came time for a foley catheter, and then he went into his final sleep. He was a very private guy, and he had some friends stop by and his 2 grown sons were taking turns around the clock working around the house and farm and coming in to check on him in between. In his last 3 days, He always played ‘possum’ with them. He had his eyes closed, but you could tell he was listening to everything being said. The day before he died, I visited and had a sure feeling this would be the last time I would see him alive. I went outside in the patio area and went over with the sons what to do when he actually died, who to call etc and I went back in to say good bye to him. And I said, “Well Jack, I am not sure your gonna be here tomorrow on my regular scheduled visit, so if your not, I will see you ‘here or there’, but I just want you to know that I have enjoyed my visits with you and your a very special man whom I will never forget.” His eyes remained closed, but he raised his right hand and reached out to me and gave me a very strong handshake, and then he released it and went back to ‘sleep’. I stood there in awe for a minute, and maybe even giggled. That night, he did indeed die peacefully. But I will always have that special moment in my memory, not just patient and nurse, but friend to friend. RIP Jack.