Reunion Reflections

The Registration table was ready. Spring flowers in a stein-shaped mug from our 10th reunion in 1978 centred an ivory coloured cloth on our table. Our beautiful name tags with our individual graduation pictures were sorted in alphabetical order in small groups of five. One or two of our classmates had arrived, but there were other guests coming through to the elevator from their rooms or from the pool area. A young 40-something woman and her husband stopped and asked if we were having a convention. When I told her that we were celebrating our Fiftieth Nursing Class reunion, she congratulated us and said - ‘Thank you for your service! My sister is a nurse.’ Not long after, another young man, coming from another direction and on his own, asked about us and admired our name tags. He also said ‘Thank you for your service’.

I had heard those words before but always related to the military in the United States. It may also be that Canadians say the same words to our military. I had, however, never heard it said to a nursing group. It felt good to be recognized in such a way. I have, over the decades, heard many similar words but often with a ‘you have a hard job’, which is many times true. Or called ‘angels of mercy’, which sometimes seems tinged with a wee bit of pity. I do know, and appreciate, that in many cases both of these are said with a great depth of meaning. Coming from random members of the public, outside of a health care environment was both surprising and very much appreciated. The words ‘for your service’ seem to speak, not of the difficulties of a nursing career alone, and not of the caring or patient advocacy that is a core value of a nurse’s career, but to the nurse, her or his dedication in all of this amazing career and the work that we do.

So to all the nurses out there: Thank you for your service.

“When I think about all the patients and their loved ones I have worked with 

over the years, I know most of them don’t remember me, nor I them. But I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them, and they to me, and 

those threads make up the tapestry that is my career in nursing.”

~ Donna Wilk Cardillo, RN