Job Hazards

So I get a page to pick up a patient I have transported many times before. I had not seen her in a couple months since I dropped her off at her nursing home. She is an enjoyable patient. One who is always engaging me in conversation and telling me about her life, the history of the area, and her family and philosophies in general. Thats one of the great things about some of the patients. You learn real history. Not just the stuff in books. After all history is written by the winners of the wars and those with the most influence so as a rule it is not always an unbiased and true history. So I walk into her room to say hello while getting the stretcher ready. She is in pain and I call for a nurse to make sure this is not a new problem coming to light that she needs to stay in the hospital for. Everything is fine in my mind until I ask her how she has been. I quickly realize that she does not remember me anymore. Its a weird feeling losing someone in that way. I dread having to deal with it in my family as my grandparents and parents get older. This woman was only 12 years older than my own father. Cherish those stories your parents and grandparents tell you. The stories of how things were and those moments they truly felt alive and excited. You never know when you might have to remember them for them. So I sat on the transfer and heard some of the same stories again, I helped out with the missing pieces and that made her happy. I told her about myself again, all the things we had talked about before, and a few new things that she had never asked. This was in a way more important than the basic care I was providing. I look forward to talking to her again. And if I have to I will remember for her again.