Tiny Treasure

My mother was a registered nurse. For my childhood years she was "mom". Tending to her five young charges at home kept her busy enough...sewing, cooking, and stretching dad's paycheck was more than enough to fill her days.

When I was in high school my mother went back to employed work as a Nurse, a position that was complete with uniform and name badge...and a paycheck ~ which, in the early days went for household bills and in later years was generally used to purchase yards (and yards) of fabric.

It was not one of the bright and shiny nursing homes in the city, in fact, it was probably one of the oldest facilities in town. It began it's life as the city hospital and was "repurposed" when the new hospital in town was built on the hill. My mother thrived there :)

My sister's first job was as a nurses aid with mom~she went on to become a registered nurse. My first job was as the weekend dishwasher when I was in college~I did not go on to become a chef! Still we all saw something special about being in that small "family" of care givers.

My mother loved the residents in that rickety old facility...she loved singing her quirky little songs with them, telling them silly stories, and caring for them with dignity in the final days of their life. She would visit with family members and give them the confidence that their loved ones were not abandoned there, and they would call her their "angel." It was a good place to be.

My mother did many things very well. One of those things was to gently remind her resident friends of the changing seasons by changing the pin she wore on her uniform lapel. It's a simple thing really, but when you no longer mark off the days by appointments on the calendar, and one season runs lazily into the next, what sweeter way to make note of the passing of time.

My mother wore many pins, none of great worth, but all of great value. She wore pins that signaled the beginning of the Western Washington Fair, a daffodil for the spring, a smiley face for the summer, but among all her adornments...a red sleigh for Christmas and a plastic shamrock St. Paddy's Day pin were her favorites.

If pins could talk, and sometimes, through the magic of the day, I think they just could ~ this one would tell of the smiles that were seen as mom sang her Irish tunes through the halls of the nursing home. For the residents that have gone home before, and for this daughter that longs for those yesterdays, that tiny treasure remembers her well!