My own nursing anecdotes:
Granny Eva's bear
As I made initial rounds on my patients that evening, I stepped into her room and introduced myself. The woman who smiled up from at me from the hospital bed was pleasant and friendly.
I stooped over to listen to her heart and lungs with my stethescope, and my eyes lit on a quaint little teddybear lying next to her. It was wrapped in a tattered old quilt fastened with a large safety pin.
"How precious!" I exclaimed.
"Read the poem inside the blanket," she offered.
I picked up the bear, and peeking out from its quilt was a small paper rolled up like a scroll bearing the anonymous poem which follows. My patient told me her little grandchild had bought the bear for her at a craft fair, and brought it to her hospital room.
Granny Eva gave me permission to share here this beautiful story of a child's bond with a grandparent, both in real life and in the poem.
I'm not a very fancy bear --
I'm plain and rather small.
Even so, someone who likes you
said that I should come to call.
Hide me underneath your pillow
or set me on a nearby shelf,
and when you feel discouraged
I
will do my best to help.
I brought my favorite blanket
that I snuggle when I'm sad.
It's a present from my Granny
made for days when things seem bad.
My Granny always told me,
"Life's like this patchwork quilt.
Just give Jesus all the pieces
and He'll make a pretty quilt."
Sometimes I don't see the pattern...
sometimes He seems far away.
Then I clutch my favorite blanket,
and I pray...and pray...and pray.
Though I don't have all the answers,
(for I'm just a Burden Bear)
I've been sent here on a mission
from someone who really cares.
When you see me please remember,
YOU are in their thoughs and prayers.
:: Burden Bear poem copyright 1992 Stephanie Grace Whitson (Used by permission)
Special Note:
My daughter gave me my first "very own" teddy bear the year she graduated from high school. After seeing Granny Eva's bear, I wrapped my own bear in a scrap from an old quilt that my mother (my daughter's grandmother) had made many years ago. She had lovingly quilted it for me from flour sacks that a friend gave me when I was in high school. There was enough left over to make a baby quilt for my daughter.
To continue the grandparent theme even farther, my daughter's daughter (my granddaughter) now has her very own teddybear wrapped in a scrap from grandma's old quilt.
Our blankets are quite old and worn, but bear doesn't seem to mind at all.