Memories

The following is the text of a tribute given at my mother's funeral. It was presented by Melissa, the evening clerk for the department with which my mom was employed. This is her voice and not my own...

Nursing Memories of Linda Harris

Let us celebrate the nursing life of Linda Harris. It's my honor to share with you our memories as Linda's co-workers. Mary though of this good idea of creating this memory book for the family. Many of you had some 20 plus years with Linda. The memory book has so many kind words and funny stories that I've attempted to put together all we wrote. GRMC will miss this EXCEL employee. Most co-workers say she was caring, private, witty, a nursing resource, independent and loved her family and dogs. Linda loved nursing even though it has changed throughout the years and she continued working her profession to the end of her life. Her nursing knowledge helped each one of us in day surgery, ED, day hospital, PCU and 4West. Sherry Boeding and Kathy Thompson say she was known as a great resource RN starting on 4West and ending in day surgery.

One consistent trait shared throughout the memory book is Linda's dry send of humor. All of us have funny stories and we'd be here all day telling them so I'll spare us that and try to hit some highlights. Let us begin with 4West stories. Linda Anderson shares, "We both worked the same weekends on 4West and this one particular Sunday we were getting this very large lady off the commode. Somehow when we were trying to lift her up, the bedpan dropped to the floor and the lady's rear end sunk down in the commode and she was stuck. The harder we tried to lift her our to no avail, the funnier the situation became. The patient was not hurt, just stuck and every time we looked at each other, we could hardly contain ourselves - all the while trying to act professional and not have the patient catch on to how funny the situation had become to us, which was very difficult considering by then we had tears streaming down our faces. Finally, a big weight lifter CNA came to the rescue and lifted the patient out of the commode and put her back to bed. He didn't think the incident was that funny and looked at us like we'd lost our minds."

And here is another 4West story from Jacinta, "I had a patient who had a huge mess and it was so bad that I called the UCC [the front desk clerk] and said, "I need help stat!" The person responded, "Yeah, good luck getting some." I was so mad that I went out there to see who had said that to me and it was Linda with that grin, laughing."

One of my favorite 4West stories is this, "Linda was working the night shift with a nurse who changed the assignments. This nurse would take the very easy patients, like the comatose ones and those who slept the entire shift. Linda would end up running all night while this nurse sat there at the nurses station. One night, Linda had enough and as she was running room to room, she "revived" on of the comatose patients [she ducked into his room and hit his call light] and suddenly the call light was going off all night long. The lazy nurse didn't sit that night. To Linda's knowledge the nurse never did know how the comatose patient could use his call light."

Yes, Linda was ornery and borderline wicked sometimes with her sense of humor but she didn't mean any harm. So, if you're this nurse, please keep this in mind. Linda was conscientious and hopeful that her comments weren't hurtful. Many nurses understood Linda. Sandy Galt says she was often on the receiving end of Linda's sense of humor and loved it anyway.

Three years ago when I started working as the day surgery evening unit cler, Linda and Sherry Murphy were the evening nurses I worked with the most. Those two were quite a team. One busy night, a patient down the hall needed help. Linda started running and fell and then Sherry ran to help and tripped. PACU nurses came over hearing all the commotion and didn't know who needed the help - Linda, Sherry or a patient. Later, when things settled down, we looked at each other, laughed and drank a Diet Pepsi.

Sue Wilson remembers Linda as an avid Diet Pepsi drinker who loved sweets. I don't recall her sharing sweets, but Linda shared her DP drinks with others, even when she drank someone else's instead. Those of use who drank DP knew that if Linda made a mistake, she always bought another one to replace the one she drank. Often she would buy one just to be giving one to those sharing the addiction. She believed in giving.

The DeHague family has followed Linda from 4West to Day Surgery. Cindy DeHague was a clerk with Linda on 4West and Amanda as a nurse and then Bryon as a Day Surgery nurse and then, of course, Ryan as a transporter. Amanda recalls ten years ago, "Charlie and Linda let me borrow a cradle that Charlie had made for my daughter Ariana who is now 10. Also, I picked up a shift for Linda in day surgery. Linda and Cindi gave me a heart necklace and lotion for doing this." Linda expressed her thanks to this family and others.

Cindy [DeHague] says that her son, Bryon, found Linda as a mentor and friend. When Linda was off work recovering from surgery, Bryon picked up extra shifts, and Linda appreciated his support. When she returned to work, Linda exchanged her day shift hours with Bryon so that he could spend time with his family. Because family was important to her, she understood other co-workers who wanted to be with their families. She would tell other nurses to go home, especially if they had an activity involving their families. Linda offered her help with co-workers, even if it involved other duties not her own. She tore down charts, answered the phone, wheeled patients out, helped the liaison and always gave money toward gifts and donations. She believed that when you receive, you give. She believed in teamwork. Angela knows that Linda was a big team player in the unit and says she will miss her dearly.

Doctors even found Linda as a good nurse and an enjoyable colleague to work with. Kay Mullahy said that Linda loved to work with Dr. Vincent and that he was nice to her. Dr. Williams wrote that he used to talk with Linda about Indiana basketball, even though she liked the Hawkeyes. Dr. Carlson was her personal physician and says she was a kind, generous and quiet person, who never got over her son's death. Dr. Niehaus was called "Saint Michael" by Linda, even though even he knows that's not true.

Linda cared about the patients but found some people frustrating to care for, the ones who whined a lot and complained no matter what she did for them and those who craved constant attention. Very few knew that she felt this way, because she behaved professionally and made nursing a priority. Linda didn't complain about her own health and would not talk about her own pain. She took care of others without complaining even towards the very end of her life.

About a month ago, we were talking about how to accept people for who they are and how sometimes it's difficult to tolerate certain people. Linda came up with the most profound statement. I put this on my refrigerator.

"There are three types of people in the world:
1. People who make things happen
2. People who watch things happen, and
3. People who as, 'What the hell just happened?'"

Linda shared her feelings and thought about her family and dogs. She loved all of you, Charlie, Cindi, Jeff and yes, you, Caleb. Most nurses who bonded with Linda express that they know how much she loves Charlie. All of us know that Charlie is a good man. Kay said that when Linda came home with a dining room set, Charlie's co-workers couldn't believe she didn't ask his input. Charlie said, "She works hard. She makes money." Also, Linda volunteered her family members to help us. No matter if it was transporting a Christmas tree or helping with directions in Chicago, she offered help. She was very excited about Cindi getting married to Mike, but she wished he had a different last name, one she could remember and spell better. She talked about her dogs almost daily. All of us know that Linda never got over the loss of Matt and would at times grieve the loss quietly.

Yes, Linda had on her locker for all staff to read, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened!" And now, this is the difficult part for all of us. We must somehow go on and smile because it happened, that we had the opportunity to work with this kind, funny and caring co-worker and friend. We have lost our evening nurse and friend, but we are so happy that we got to know her and spent so much time with a great nurse. So let's, "smile because it happened."