We have time for you

I was visiting a young man in his thirties, just days before his death. As I turned to leave his room, he called my name. “Gabby, promise me something.” I told him I would try. He said, “promise me that you will treat the next person you see as kindly as you treated me.” I promised him that I would.

This story is not just about me though, it is about every clinician who has ever been at a bedside and understood that kindness is not an accessory to our work, it is the work.

A pediatric nurse I deeply admire recently shared that on the day a child in her care died, the parent looked at her when she walked into the room, and said, “I am glad it’s you.” There is no greater affirmation than being trusted in someone’s final hours, not because of their age, but because a life is ending. Whether we care for children or adults, the sacredness is the same.

To be invited into that space is an honor, but to have earned the trust of those preparing to say goodbye, to be wanted there, relied upon, and trusted to help them feel safe, is the greater one.

As she continued her story, she said five simple words that have stayed with me: “I have time for you.” What a sacred offering. To say that to anyone standing at the edge of loss, for themselves or for someone they love, is to steady the room. It tells them they are not an interruption. It tells them their grief is not inconvenient. It tells them they matter.

Yes, it is our job to show up. But it is how we show up that defines us. When we walk through a door without glancing at the clock, when we sit instead of stand, when we allow our presence to linger instead of hurry, we are keeping a promise…

The promise to treat the next person we see with tenderness.

To extend kindness without rationing it.

To make time, and more importantly, to let it be felt.

We want every patient and every family member to know that we have time for them. And kindness should not be something extraordinary we occasionally offer, it should be the steady, unmistakable presence we carry into every room we enter.

We have time for you, and you will receive kindness always. This is our promise.

xo

Gabby