saying goodbye

today i said goodbye to a patient i have been following since my first day at Cedars.
he went home, so it was a good goodbye.
but it made me sad.
because he is still so sick.
but we all wanted him to go home.
and today he was finally ready.
(he had been in the hospital since the first week of May, so it was definitely time.)

anyway, i got a little misty when i went by his room to bid him farewell.
i know i am a little sick (like for real, with a fever and the sniffles),
so i am not as emotionally stable as i usually am...
which i am sure played a part in my reaction to the situation.
but i also feel like i connected with this patient in an honest and real way.
and that is an incredibly beautiful thing.
a thing that most people don't get in their day-to-day lives.

so today, i want to take a minute to express my gratitude for the relationships i am blessed with in my daily work.
i am honored to be a part of people's lives in this way.
it is amazing. and beautiful.
and i am a better human because of it.