The Gift of Presence

 From the December 20, 2023 issue of the Transformational Times

The Gift of Presence  

Karen Herzog

“Greetings from Milwaukee! It’s the season of miracles, and we have a little one named Kelsey Marie. She views the world through big, blue eyes, and has an Eveready smile. Seven months into her life, we’re still in awe of everything she does. All Kelsey wants for Christmas is to crawl, and we believe she’ll get her wish any day now…” 

– Our Family’s 1995 Christmas letter 

Despite the magical lead-up to our firstborn daughter’s first Christmas, a painful ear infection and high fever made her inconsolable, and left us at wit’s end, on Christmas Eve. We finally did what many parents do when physician offices are closed and there’s no urgent care: We bundled her up in the wee hours of Christmas morning and drove her to the ER of the small hospital in my hometown, where we were visiting my parents. 

Kelsey was the only patient at that hour, and the ER was peaceful before her crying pierced the silence. Thankfully, relief was on the way when a young resident appeared in the examining room. The amoxicillin he prescribed (with a dose of reassurance for her anxious, sleep-deprived parents) was a small Christmas miracle. 

I wish the bleary-eyed resident who crawled out of an on-call room bed at 4 a.m., because of a crying child’s non-emergency ear infection could have seen that tiny patient a few hours later, once the amoxicillin kicked in. There’s nothing sweeter than a sweet baby, cheeks still flushed from fever, staring in awe at the twinkling lights on her grandparents’ Christmas tree, her first Christmas morning. 

Of course, first holidays of life often stand in contrast to last holidays of life. I can’t think about one without the other, as my mom died four days before Christmas four years ago. She was 90. 

The awe I felt at the end of my mom’s life was for the healthcare workers. Their presence was as warm as the Christmas lights that filled her room in a skilled care facility. 

This holiday season, my wish for healthcare workers who make tremendous sacrifices to “be there” for patients in hospitals and skilled care centers is to know their presence is a gift that will hold a special place in the holiday memories of those they touch. 

Karen Herzog is the copy editor of the Transformational Times. In a previous life, she was an education reporter at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.