My beautiful wife Christina is a geriatric registered nurse. One who cares deeply for the residents in her care. Besides providing excellent medical care, she always goes above and beyond when it comes to making their lives cheerier. Earlier this week she bought 2 large trays of Christmas cookies from a home baker out of pocket and made a large pot hot chocolate to treat all the residents on her floor. Many of them said it reminded them of their childhood decades earlier.
One of the really tough aspects of this type of nursing is the occasional loss of patients. It is the unavoidable, inevitable nature of geriatric nursing. This causes some nurses to maintain an emotional detachment, but not Christina. She gives of her heart and does her best to make their lives bearable. One very sad situation she has shared with me on more than one occasion is when a patient is struggling, they get to a place where they dread going to sleep and fight to stay awake, which just makes their situation worse. She is usually able to reassure them that she will keep a close eye on them through the night and sits with them while the fall asleep. Needless to say, her patients adore her, and I am so proud I could burst.
My Person of the Year is, and always will be, my wife.