Last night as I parked my car in the circle outside the front of the hospital, I saw a plastic bag…like a ziplock or a sandwich bag dangling from a tree limb about 5 1/2 feet up in the air. I thought maybe it was the leftovers of someone’s lunch that found a branch to land on after it had been blown away in some storm. I looked at it from a distance with curiosity but went on my way to the front doors to begin my 12 hour shift instead of walking closer to the object to investigate further.
Like most nights, I didn’t have a minute to spare. The shift went by pretty uneventfully. A fellow nurse friend and I had a conversation during the night about being burned out in our jobs and how it was so sad the way that nursing has changed over the years. Really nursing hasn’t changed as much as people have. The patients, the families and the visitors all have changed….and not for the better. We find ourselves constantly being the target of rude behavior, bad attitudes and verbal aggression. We are abused in almost every way possible on almost a daily basis. It has become extremely difficult to muster the energy and enthusiasm to go to work. The constant stress and anxiety take a heavy toll on your mind and body. You try not to take it personally, but no matter what you do or think…it gets inside you and builds.
Personally the last few years have been some of the darkest of my lifetime. Beginning in August of 2019 with the death of my father only to be followed a few short months later with a global pandemic. And now the aftermath of the pandemic is not much better. These should be healing years but they’re not. They’re financially tough as hell and as stressful as ever. As the song goes, though…I know there’ll be some brighter days…eventually. 
At the end of the long shift this morning, I left the hospital through the front doors and waited for my husband to arrive to pick me up. I saw the plastic baggie still dangling from the tree limb. This time I had a few minutes to investigate. I found this handmade quilted heart that someone made and left to brighten some random stranger’s day. Today I am the random lucky stranger. This beautiful little handmade heart lifted my spirits in a way that I can’t explain. When I needed to feel that there was good in the world…there it was right in front of me dangling from a tree limb. Sooooo many people walk by that tree to enter the hospital. I know that this heart was meant just for me. Today I feel blessed that it found me. If you read all of this, I hope that you find your blessing today too. Things will get better. ❤️. #IFAQH. Heart made in Troy, MO and found in Lake Saint Louis, MO
***Heart submitted was not part of IFAQH, but story was encouraging and we wanted to share with you.
