"20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, dream." --Mark Twain
Today was a memorial service for one of my favorite ICU nurses here at UWMC. She was incredible with her patients, loved by all of her colleagues, had been here for 20+ years. We would visit about horses, tae-kwon-do, Hawaii, hiking, Irish dancing, bands, travel, you name it. She wasn't afraid to try anything new...she would turn up the radio and dance to entertain a patient or help another nurse (or vascular technologist) smile. I knew her in passing, as compared to those who worked with her daily in the ICU...but I was able to visit with her enough to know that the Twain quote (which was in the memorial program) totally fit her. A couple of weeks ago she was thrown from a horse, suffering multiple injuries, and died Monday from a stroke. It was such a nice service, and the auditorium was packed. There were even former patients who stood up to speak about their experience with her...which says so much more than their words could express. She was quite a lady, and will be greatly missed. One of the bands she liked the most is Great Big Sea; they played their song "Here and Now" at the end of the servcie. The lyrics are very cool, and I thought I'd include them:
Here and Now --Great Big Sea
~~~~~~~
The sun must set to rise
The light will leave your eyes again
Then breaking like morning's dawn
Does summer feel the winter come
The hardest part of life
Is to live while you're alive my friend
So sing an unwritten song
Or repent for the deeds you left undone
This is Here
This is Now
It's the moment that we live for
And we just can't live without
It's all clear to me now
We've already started dying
And our time is running out
Oh, Right Now
Time is ours to steal
She's a secret to reveal my friend
And when your children have all grown
You'll wait by the window
And wish them all back home
Walk a little further off the beaten path
And we'll drive on even if we get there last
Our backs against the wall
And we will lunge and bite
And we'll rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light
~~~~~~~
I will miss you, Deanna!
