under different circumstances...
I've been lucky enough to have met such amazing and noteworthy persons in my life, so far. Some of them, have even changed how I viewed the world... influenced my ethics, shaped my values, and all that. Aside from my immediate family, back in high school my most treasured support system was this program called Advancement Via Individual Determination. Or as we fondly called it -- the AVID Program. This little program that could pretty much helped disadvantaged teens (like myself back then) get admitted into colleges and universities. It was thru AVID that I met one of my mentors -- she helped me become stronger, less shy and more confident... and encouraged me to dream big.
AVID Fieldtrip, circa 2003
To my surprise, that very same teacher was a patient at my unit at the hospital! Coincidence or not, when I saw her name on our patient roster I was dumbfounded... for something to go full circle like this is just whoa. To think this was a person from my past who in a sense helped me get to where I am today. After I got off my twelve hour graveyard shift yesterday, I came by her room to talk... see how she was doing medically, and of course catch up. It has been almost two years since we last saw each other... it was the summer of 2008, and I was just right about to graduate from nursing school -- fearful of the future. These were some of what she told me --
You can't imagine how happy I am to see you. I was so depressed because my doctor had told me that it might be ovarian cancer... thankfully it wasn't but I had to undergo this surgery... a few hours ago I was feeling the worse pain of my life, and I just started crying by myself.
I had just been thinking about you and Alvia [one of my friends who also was in AVID], since both of you graduated with nursing degrees... and here you are! I am so relieved seeing a familar face... somehow now I know that I'll be okay and be able to recover from this.
How utterly life altering is that?
Before I left, I told her that while I would have wanted to see her again.... I would have thought it would have been under different circumstances. Praying for my former teacher's health and speedy recovery.
Life.
AVID Fieldtrip, circa 2003
To my surprise, that very same teacher was a patient at my unit at the hospital! Coincidence or not, when I saw her name on our patient roster I was dumbfounded... for something to go full circle like this is just whoa. To think this was a person from my past who in a sense helped me get to where I am today. After I got off my twelve hour graveyard shift yesterday, I came by her room to talk... see how she was doing medically, and of course catch up. It has been almost two years since we last saw each other... it was the summer of 2008, and I was just right about to graduate from nursing school -- fearful of the future. These were some of what she told me --
You can't imagine how happy I am to see you. I was so depressed because my doctor had told me that it might be ovarian cancer... thankfully it wasn't but I had to undergo this surgery... a few hours ago I was feeling the worse pain of my life, and I just started crying by myself.
I had just been thinking about you and Alvia [one of my friends who also was in AVID], since both of you graduated with nursing degrees... and here you are! I am so relieved seeing a familar face... somehow now I know that I'll be okay and be able to recover from this.
How utterly life altering is that?
Before I left, I told her that while I would have wanted to see her again.... I would have thought it would have been under different circumstances. Praying for my former teacher's health and speedy recovery.
Life.