Write a thank you note to someone who has helped you.
Morning Karen,
I was one of the patients you were a nurse for on the migraine ward just before your retirement. I doubt that I showed my appreciation at the time, partly because I didn't know how much it was going to help, but I just really wanted to say "thank you" for something you told me one morning. You were coming in, turning on dim lights to help wake us on morning before the team of doctors made their early morning rounds.
When you woke me, and got me to be slightly lucid, you told me, "Morning." I replied with, "good morning," and you stopped me right there and looked me in the eyes and told me it was "morning," not "good morning," as for many, it wasn't going to be a good morning. I was struck by this idea that I could change my greeting to suit the situation more than I had previously known was possible.
To this day, if I'm greeting somebody I can't judge quickly, or who if I'm having issues myself, I will use the greeting of "'Morning," and leave off the positive adjective. It's a way to be honest, as well as courteous, as you were in the migraine ward, to acknowledge that the day ahead might not be a good one, but that the person is worth a socially acceptable greeting. That in and of itself can be huge; being treated as any other individual, no matter how severely we are actually suffering.
Thank you so much for giving me my most used morning greeting, one that I hope helps others, subliminally if nothing else, as it helped me. gain a reprieve from the expectation that all is well. That meant a lot when I was on the ward, and it continues to help me all these years later.
Thank you and may I be the first to say, "Morning" to you today.
- Gretchen
Morning Karen,
I was one of the patients you were a nurse for on the migraine ward just before your retirement. I doubt that I showed my appreciation at the time, partly because I didn't know how much it was going to help, but I just really wanted to say "thank you" for something you told me one morning. You were coming in, turning on dim lights to help wake us on morning before the team of doctors made their early morning rounds.
When you woke me, and got me to be slightly lucid, you told me, "Morning." I replied with, "good morning," and you stopped me right there and looked me in the eyes and told me it was "morning," not "good morning," as for many, it wasn't going to be a good morning. I was struck by this idea that I could change my greeting to suit the situation more than I had previously known was possible.
To this day, if I'm greeting somebody I can't judge quickly, or who if I'm having issues myself, I will use the greeting of "'Morning," and leave off the positive adjective. It's a way to be honest, as well as courteous, as you were in the migraine ward, to acknowledge that the day ahead might not be a good one, but that the person is worth a socially acceptable greeting. That in and of itself can be huge; being treated as any other individual, no matter how severely we are actually suffering.
Thank you so much for giving me my most used morning greeting, one that I hope helps others, subliminally if nothing else, as it helped me. gain a reprieve from the expectation that all is well. That meant a lot when I was on the ward, and it continues to help me all these years later.
Thank you and may I be the first to say, "Morning" to you today.
- Gretchen
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