I am nominating Tara for this award because I truly believe there are no coincidences in life, and my experience today feels like a true example of that. It’s hard to put into words an experience because it’s truly something that is felt, and words don’t adequately describe but I can try to sum it up by saying sometimes it’s as easy as being attentive and kind. Not only was Tara kind, but she was also thorough with explanations and made sure I understood everything that was going on, including the aftercare stuff.

I know she’s busy (the waiting room is packed), but she still cared enough to take a minute to connect on something when she saw a book that I had taken in with me. I haven’t started reading it yet, but it happened to be one of her favorites, she said, so much so that she’s read it twice. All 700 pages! We talked about our love for books and little quaint bookstores, and she told me that’s how she found this book in a random bookstore, and it was suggested to her by the store clerk. I told her that I am a book nerd, so “booktok” introduced me to it, but I had never heard of it before. The conversation then took a turn that neither of us expected, and I’m sure neither of us will soon forget. (Or my sister, who was also there in the room with me and sharing in the conversation with us - with Tara’s permission to speak in front of her first- which I also appreciated!) She couldn’t have known what I was personally going through in my life before it was all revealed in our conversation. But her kindness and the manner in which she so naturally made me feel comfortable and at ease talking to her about some heavy subject matter, and she allowed me to not only talk freely but I was also able to truly hear her kind, heartfelt words and receive them when I really needed them.

Her recommendation to maybe wait a while to read the book (due to the pretty heavy subject matter) and pick it up when I feel strong and ready is just an example of someone simply caring about the well-being of a person that you really don’t even know and probably won’t ever see again. That, to me, exemplifies the kind of person that should be recognized because those are qualities that cannot be taught but make all the difference. You never know what somebody is going through, so thank you for your time and compassion today, Tara! All of the staff at WIH were wonderful today, and despite being in an ER for a painful situation, they certainly made the experience a great one.