Thank You So Much For Caring

After the death of his wife, a young widower writes an open letter to her medical team

- Peter Demarco

AS I BEGIN TO TELL my friends and family about the week you treated my wife, Laura Levis, in what turned out to be the last days of her young life, they stop me at about the 15th name that I recall. The list includes the doctors, nurses, respiratory specialists, social workers and even cleaning staff members who cared for her.

“How do you remember any of their names?” they ask.

“How could I not?” I respond.

Every single one of you treated Laura with such professionalism, kindness and dignity as she lay unconscious. When she needed shots, you apologized that it was going to hurt a little, whether or not she could hear. When you listened to her heart and lungs through your stethoscopes and her gown began to slip, you pulled it up to respectfully cover her. You spread a blanket not only when her body temperature needed regulating but also when the room was just a little cold and you thought she’d sleep more comfortably that way.

You cared so greatly for her parents, helping them climb into the room’s awkward recliner, fetching them water almost by the hour and answering every one of their medical questions with incredible patience. My father-in-law, a doctor himself, as you learned, felt he was involved in her care. I can’t tell you how important that was to him.