Death Is Painful For We Who Must Go On...

My friend and co-worker passed over.. beyond the veil that separates the light from darkness, time from eternity.. his name is Albert Serna.

Some years ago, Al had a very bad stroke. It left him in bed, unable to talk or walk. The hospital wanted to put him in a nursing home.. Al said No.. he wanted to return to work.. It took Al over a year to walk and speak, relearning everything. Al persevered.. .

Al tried to get disability.. the amount of money would not cover his apartment and expenses.. again Al said, “NO.. I can do this.. I will return to work at my job.” When he came back to work they wouldn’t take him back as a ward clerk.. so Al applied for and got a job in the admissions department. He hadn’t ever done admissions before, but picked it up real fast.

Every morning Al got up, got cleaned up, got dressed, walked around the small lake in town, (he called it his therapy) and took the bus to work. Al didn’t get back the use of his left hand, so he kept it in his jacket pocket. He had limited use of his left leg, so he had a terrible gait, it didn’t stop him. He had a desk very close to the Emergency Room front intake desk.. so we talked every day.. he and my co-worker talked sports all day, in between us checking in patients, and Al doing admissions.. he used the computer with one hand better than some did with two.. he did one hell of a job.. two people work in admissions.. but as often happens.. he worked there alone if he had to.. people are out sick, go on vacation.. so sometimes he would be doing all the admissions for the whole hospital with out help.

Al never complained.. never asking for help.. doing everything himself.. taking calls.. helping ward clerks in the hospital wing do things they didn’t know how to do, even thou it wasn’t his job.. all you had to do was ask.. Al got it done.

Always a good sense of humor.. always a smile on his face, always going the extra mile for everyone.

His sister needed help when she lost her job because of this recession, he took in her family.. into his apartment.

Where am I going with this story? Will every day Al pushed open the envelope a little further.. he would fall sometimes, wouldn’t take help to get on his feet.. he didn’t want any one to look at him any differently than they did before the stroke. The point is, Al was my HERO. Why, you ask? Because I don’t think I could have come out of a stroke the way he did.

Albert Serna was an incredible person.. an incredible human being.. He was my friend.. I don’t have many.. but he was. We loved him, he was an inspiration to every one who knew him.

So I put this note on his desk on Tuesday when I found he had passed, after I cried.

Dear Albert,

We Miss You..

We Wish You Good Journey..

Take The Second Star To The Right,

And Then Go Straight On Till Morning......

YOU WERE OUR BEST.............

J'nai

I was just given a wonderful gift.. this summer I was privileged to work with a vary gracious young woman who was a student working in our Emergency Room.. you know, a lot of times we get young college kids who really have no idea how the world turns.. and certainly not any idea how to deal with sick patients.. but not this time.. this lovely young black woman was amazing.. she jumped in with both feet.. did every thing that she was asked with a smile.. created all the reports she was asked to, with only minor direction and ideas from our manager and our director.. worked shoulder to shoulder with me at the front desk of the ER.. no complaints.. she greeted every patient with respect and dignity.

You don’t find this very often.. this is a situation where some would freeze up, and not be able to face it, and some were only able to do it one day.. she was very quick to pick up the process of getting the patient checked in, and depending on the need.. instantly working with me without being asked, so that one of us would get the patient right to the nurse, and the other would get the paper work completed.. so that patients that were in dire need (heart attack, shortness of breath, etc.) did not wait, but got care right away.. it was like she had worked their beside me for years, not days.

This is a normal process for me and my other coworkers.. she picked it up the second day.. she had our programs down cold.. she was not put off by the assault to her senses, that one gets in emergency room situations.. working hand and hand with myself, our nurses, our nurse manager, and our emergency room director, she was incredible.

I am only writing this because this is usually not the case.. we get some great students during the summer, but not that fit so well into the team.

This young twenty-one year old is now a senior at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, doing her last year, majoring in journalism, with a minor in Spanish. She will be truly missed by all of our staff.. sometimes you get kids that just sit and surf the net.. putting in time and getting a small check.

Not J’nai, she worked right beside us, went the extra mile every day.. we will not forget..

Tears From The Stone

Sometimes the day is just too hard.. sometimes being the rock to lean on is almost beyond what I feel capable of.. after being the rock, yet again, where do I get what I need to go on...

The rock can never cry.. the rock can never show weakness.. the rock must always be solid and strong.. but how long can the rock go on before it cracks, splits and breaks.. no longer strong.. no longer solid.. no longer able to hold back the tears..

Tears From The Stone..

Love is painful...

Circles

Circles within circles.. Safe Places, within Chaos.. It has been many years since I belonged to a Circle. It is very difficult to live without the companionship and comfort of a Circle to stand with me.. to hold me..

I seek those who believe as I do.. I need them.. I need them more now that I am much older.. Time is passing.. I need the strength, and comfort of those who follow the Goddess as I do. It may be that I am asking for more than I can have, it seems so.. yet still, I seek it.. I am old, lonely, and tired, tired of most men and their macho attitudes.. I want to belong to a Circle without men.. I need the comfort and peace and companionship that I have known, but have been missing for so many years..

A Circle can bring peace.. created and enclosing a person or a group, as a safe space to worship.. It can bind a couple together in love.. a Circle is like a wedding ring, without beginning or end..

Yes, Circles within circles.. Safe Places, within Chaos..

Just Thinking

Where does time go?

Just a question.. Because if I go to work, time goes by just the same as the day before, or the last day I worked.

If I stay home sick.. I blink my eyes and it's Noon. One more blink, and my wife is home from work and it's five o'clock.

So, what happens.. time moves fairly slow at work and speeds up if I stay home?

What's up with that? Just how does that work? I stay home, and at Noon, I look at myself and say, "I could have gone to work.. was I really too sick to go to work?" Then I stand up and almost fall down.. as the world spins.. and I go, "Maybe not."

But, ninety percent of the time.. I go to work. I just can't stay home, and feel OK about it.

I only got two things from the father that raised me: first, my love of various music.. and second, my work ethic.

So, on the dark side of my humor.. What's the difference between a duck?

One Leg Is Both The Same...

See, told you.. dark humor...

And, Just something to think about..

If feet is the plural of foot, (meaning 2) If you have 2 feet.. Do you have 4 foots??? Think About It...