Debbie Albritton happened to be working in ASU pre-op when my wife was scheduled to have a D&C performed. We had no plans for more kids but once the shock wore off, we figured God had a plan and began figuring out what needed to happen with our family. However, the plan went in a different direction for reasons we may never know as the baby didn't make it past 5 weeks. Needless to say, my wife and I have gone through a wide range of emotions over the past couple weeks and understand that we don't hold the answers. When we got to the hospital on Friday, everyone was very courteous but something was different about Debbie. She took the time to make sure my wife was comforted physically and emotionally. She laughed, cried, and treated us like family and I cannot tell you what kind of lasting impression that had on us. As I was walking down one of the halls during the procedure, I ran into Debbie and she handed me a card for us to read when we were ready. The card was very sweet and kind and was really above and beyond anything Debbie or anyone else had to do. My wife and I will keep this card as a bittersweet reminder that we have the potential to directly impact patients, friends, family, and random strangers at any given moment.

As I continue to replay the last couple of weeks in my head and work through things, I realized that I never told Debbie I worked for Vidant. This makes the whole story even more amazing to my wife and me because it means that Debbie, and others like her, provide more than just medical care. They provide a sense of family, support, and comfort at a time when the emotional healing is as important as the physical healing. I want Debbie to know how very appreciative we are to have met her.