On the Fall Train

This fall semester has been both busy and dizzy for me.  As I look back over my calendar, in seven different classes I have met and taught a total of 48 amazing men and women.

I taught Leadership in Nursing to ten nurses working on their B.S.N. degree; and I had six clinical rotations in behavioral health nursing with the others, studying to take their RN boards in May, 2015. 

Feeling especially blessed, each of these students were both exceptional and unique, despite the universal threads of compassion, kindness and sensitivity.  Amazingly, each of my seven groups gave me a card with individual notes of appreciation for the time we spent together.  

These words from the heart are forever treasures to me--honestly, more valuable than a paycheck. Here is just one example:

You are a born teacher. You did not just teach us a lesson for eight weeks. You taught us a life time lesson. We may or may never see you again physically, but you will always be present in our minds. May God forever bless you and your family.

Thank You.                                                                                                                     

Recently a dear friend sent me an e-mail called "Life is a Journey" which, in turn, I'd like to share with you...

Life is like a journey on a train, with its stations, with changes of routes, and with accidents!

We board this train when we are born and our parents are the ones who get our ticket.

We believe they will always travel on this train with us.

However, at some station our parents will get off the train, leaving us alone on this journey.

As time goes by, other passengers will board the train, many of whom will be significant - our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life.

Many will get off during the journey and leave a permanent vacuum in our lives.

Many will go so unnoticed that we won't even know when they vacated their seats and got off the train!

This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, good-byes, and farewells.

A good journey is helping, loving, having a good relationship with all co-passengers, and making sure that we give our best to make their journey comfortable.

The mystery of this fabulous journey is, we do not know at which station we ourselves are going to get off.

So, we must live in the best way--adjust, forget, forgive and offer the best of what we have.

It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to leave our seat, we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.

Thank you for being one of the important passengers on my train.

Don't know when my station will come. Don't want to miss saying, "Thank you!"

anonymous

And as I think back over this busy, dizzy, but ever so fulfilling semester of preparing nurses to take excellent care of their patients, I will focus on living in the best way (I can)--adjusting, forgetting, forgiving and offering the best of what I have as I look ahead to the spring batch of students.

Before I go, there's an excellent book review in Tuesday's edition of the Pumpkin Run Pulse titled: God's Playbook by Kevin O. Kruise and Kim Kruise Thompson. I've been a fan of Kim Thompson's work for several years now. This book is a story she wrote with her brother, Kevin, and is a great read, especially for the holidays, showcasing their combined talent. 


Also, please pop over to see Vicki Warner's latest edition of From Loss to Living, titled What are our Children Learning? It's another one arriving just in time for the holidays and will give you some quality information to consider..


Wishing you all peace in these busy days as everyone prepares for Christmas.

See you next Wednesday. 

Hugs,

mar

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