The Night Nurse

 

The following was told to me by my father.

The Night Nurse

By all accounts I’ve been a lucky man most of my life. Sure, I’ve experienced hardships. My parents were from the Great Depression era. I was the youngest son of nine children. We worked hard on our small farm for a meager existence. But we always had the essentials, plus love and good health remained a constant for me. I’ve always been blessed with great family. In my later adult life, I traveled the US coast to coast on my motorcycle, several times. I survived hurricanes, tornadoes, and being run off the highway by a work truck and flipping my bike. 

Everything is finite. I lay in a hospital bed, on the precipice of my 80th birthday, and it seems my luck has ended. I had one hell of a run. A rare disease has taken most of my strength. And now another rare medical condition has left me nearly dead. I needed emergency surgery to repair damaged organs.  The pain and despair has reached levels I’ve never experienced before. I’ve had enough. I closed my eyes and told The Lord that I couldn’t stand it anymore, it was time for him to take me. 

I heard a noise and opened my eyes. There was someone entering my room. 

“Hello, I’m the night nurse, I’m here to help you and show you a few things.”

She was a caucasian woman in her mid 30’s, dressed the same as the other nurses I’ve dealt with, except she seemed more engaged personally than most of the others who tended to your needs but often seem cold while doing their tasks. 

The night nurse asked me how I was doing and I vented some of my frustration to her as she went about cleaning my incision and changing my bandages. 

Something she said struck me odd though. I asked her what she meant when she said she had some things to show me. 

The night nurse walked over to me and put her hand on my arm. She smiled and said;

“I know you are feeling hopeless right now. I’m going to take you somewhere and show you true hopelessness.”

Suddenly we are in a park in Ohio. It’s not too long after the American Civil War. I see the townspeople all gathered in this park for a ceremony. They’re unveiling a statue to commemorate the soldiers from the area that were killed in the war. I thought about the pain and sacrifice that these men endured. 

“Is this what you wanted to show me? The monument, and what it represents?” I ask. 

“This exact site was deemed very important by the town. They unquestionably wanted the memorial right here. The only problem was, this land belonged to the Native Americans. The local government wanted the land and forced the Natives from their homes.” Explained the night nurse. 

Next thing I know, we are in the same park, only now the statue is gone and there’s a house. I see a family being escorted out of the house by soldiers. There is a Native man yelling at the soldiers. The children are crying. A woman begs for the soldiers to reconsider. 

Then suddenly I’m at another home. I see soldiers removing dead bodies from a house and escorting children away. I can see their tears. I can smell the gunpowder in the air. 

“These families weren’t offered fair compensation for their land and homes. They were forced out. Those that refused to leave were killed. What you are experiencing in your life is minor by comparison. Your situation will improve. Don’t lose hope.” 

My eyes opened and I was back in my hospital room. It seemed as though only a few minutes had passed. An African American nurse then walked in my room. I asked her if she had been working all night or if someone else had been taking care of me. She looked annoyed and said

 “I’m the only one here tonight working on this floor.” 

In the grand scheme of things, my situation wasn’t as dire as it seemed. Not the time to beg God for mercy. I’ll never forget my visit from the night nurse.