It was a busy morning at the clinic and at about 8:30, an elderly man in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had another appointment at 9 a.m. I took his vital signs and asked him to take a seat, knowing that it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him. I saw him glancing at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.
It seemed well healed so I talked to one of the doctors and received the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress it. While doing so, I asked whether he had another doctor’s appointment as he was in such a hurry.
“No,” he replied. “I need to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with my wife.” As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he came a bit late. “No, she hasn’t recognized me for some years now.”
“Yet you still go every morning to eat breakfast with her?” He patted my hand, smiled and said; “She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.”
The nurse had to hold back tears as he left and thought; That is the kind of love I want in my life.
