My encounters with Michael happened when I was visiting my brother at Olympic Medical Center. Since I lived out of town, my three visits were separated by a gap of four days.
My brother, who had many co-conditions, was admitted with a very serious illness. At 72-years-old and already very weak from his other conditions, he was being assisted in breathing with a ventilator. My siblings and I made the very difficult decision to discontinue all the extraordinary life-saving efforts and allow our brother a comfortable end.
Michael was extremely efficient and conscientious in following doctors' orders, but within those parameters, he was incredibly sensitive to my brother's comfort. He responded with talking to him, holding his hand and shoulder and immediately providing medication to calm him and ease his discomforts. At the same time, he was warm and friendly and sensitive to our feelings.
Five of us spent a lot of time in the room - probably getting in Michael's way... no, most certainly getting in his way. Not once did he act impatient. His warmth and welcoming never faltered. When it came time to discontinue life-saving measures, he was his usual warm self, but added, for me, a sense of firm confidence in the process.
I guess I'm trying to say that I felt the process to be in good hands. Watching my brother be that ill, and die, was hard, but I don't believe anyone could have taken better care of him, or us, than Michael. I carry a special place in my heart for him.