Recently, I attended a retirement party for one of my ER colleagues. Being retired myself, I no longer feel the gravity that comes with the responsibility for the lives of pediatric patients, and it is freeing.
While I worked in the ER my escape valve was the cabin up north, and to this day remains a source of serenity. On more than one occasion, my professional life and north woods life felt vividly juxtaposed.
Vespers
A ten-year old girl covered with hives
Miles into midnight countryside
Wheezing hard, unable to speak
Blood pressure levels slipping fast
Winter solstice weather
Crystalline and cold
In the ER a dance of rescue unfolds
Drugs slam home, infuse, relax
The wrap of blackness broken
Beneath a billion star sky
Breathing slower, a faint smile: good signs
Looking up, we almost feel divine.
Marilyn Aschoff Mellor
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