Millicent

I am incredibly fortunate to meet such interesting, intriguing, delightful, and hilarious patients on a daily basis.  Their families are, most of the time, just as pleasant.  I have recently met the most extraordinary lady.  She is on the higher end of  the age scale.  She is an absolutely "classic beauty".  She is always "dressed to the nines", her make-up is flawless, and her hair is always in a perfect bun.  Quite simply, she is the most statuesque woman I have ever crossed paths with.  She is elegant, filled with knowledge, always following proper manners, but never comes off as arrogant, or self-absorbed.  Most of the time she is very "buttoned-up" and chic.  In fact no one(even her doctors) know her true age.  She maintains the thought that a "true lady" never discloses her age.  On the other hand, she can let her hair down and even get a get a little risqué at times.  She swears like a sailor, drinks like a fish, and lives life on her time.  She is a truly dynamic woman.  "Millicent the magnificent", as I like to call her. :)

Everyone at the hospital calls her Millie, but I only call her by her given name.  She never matters, either way, how people addressed her.  She once told me that someone could throw a bottle of scotch at her head and she would happily respond with a "Howdy"!  I couldn't help but chuckle when she said that.  She is certainly one-of-a-kind, and I just eat it up!  I was surprised the other day when she asked me why I only call her Millicent.  My reasoning was because Millicent sounds so distinguished, debonaire and classy.  I feel that name suits her perfectly.  Her eyes welled up with tears as she listened to my explanation.  I was confused.  I wrapped my arms around her and told her I didn't mean to upset her.  She said she wasn't upset, rather she was appreciative.  She grew up very poor.  The lack of wealth made her feel like people degraded her because of her financial situation.  She worked hard her entire life to become wealthy and successful.  She never made it to wealthy, but she married, had children and they were financially comfortable.  When I told her the reasoning behind me calling her Millicent, it made her feel like she finally achieved her goal.  I reassured her that she more than achieved her goal many years ago.  She supported herself, married the man of her dreams, and raised four lovely children.

Millicent surpassed her goal without even realizing it.  I told her that she should feel like the richest woman in the world because she always strived to be and do the best she could while she traveled the "road of life".  She is, and will always be an exceptionally loving, caring, and generous lady. She devoted her life to her family and that is worth more than all the money in the world.

I would be lost, alone, terrified, and even more anxious than I already am, if I had to navigate through life without the outstanding support system around me.  I have been fortunate to have loved ones I could lean on when all I saw was darkness and all I felt was pain.  The most precious gift in life is sharing experiences with family and friends.  We have all taken these relationships for granted at times, but we must learn from past behavior.  We all need to let the ones we love know they are appreciated from time-to-time instead of assuming they know.  Everyone needs to know they are loved for nothing other than being a part of your life.