It is Finished

374 days later, my time at the hospital is finished. I haven't written in a long while. Perhaps because I was pouring out my soul in CPE writings. Perhaps because I was pouring it out into my patients.

I have learned much. I am a stronger person for having served one year and 9 days as a chaplain in a 900 bed County Hospital that is the Region Burn Hospital and a Level 1 Trauma Center. Level 1 Traumas are the most serious. My assigned units included one of five Intensive Care Units, the Oncology unit, the Geriatric unit, and the Endocrinology unit. Each had it's own personality. The oncology patients return for several chemo sessions. You get to know them on a deeper level. Some of the ICU patients stay a long time, some go home, and many go to their final rest. A few leave ICU for less intense locations in the hospital. Those I followed from floor to floor. The Endocrinology patients are usually coping with diabetes and facing life changes either with a new diagnosis or complications. The Geriatric patients varied from grumpy to wise. I wonder which of my personality traits will be magnified as I age.

I have the next 3 weeks off before I begin what comes next (a great mystery that should be revealed soon). It is my intent (yes a play on someone else's words) to go back through my journal and share some of my CPE lowlights and highlights in this blog.

My First Baptism

A tiny baby
in the sterile
yet holy
delivery room
too small, too soon.

Two hours later
beside his mother.

She held him
in her arms
as he breathed
his
last
breath.

We
cried
together.

Mother Care

God sent me to this place.
The me that I am.
The me I already was.

God placed me,
the mother that I love being
in this very place.

To offer a bit of grace,
God's mother love
for those who need it.

Gentle Care,
Brushing Hair,
Hearing Heart,
Hugging Arms.

Soft reprimand,
Holding hands,
Bedtime prayers,
Mother care.

In God's name,
Grace.