Blog - Kitchen Table Devotions

The Unspeakable Burden

by Rita Macdonald

I've taken classes where there was no need to take notes. I've taken others that I could not keep up with the instructor, and a lot of needed information was not able to get recorded because I just couldn't write fast enough. That's how most of my days are at work too. I change into what I call my "school shoes," and there are days when I coast through with minimal interaction with a patient who may be in a coma, and other days when I get the opportunity to pull up a chair and have a long, meaningful conversation with someone, usually significantly older than me. I always try to glean a little wisdom from people with more history behind them than me. That happened today - the meaningful conversation. So did the note-taking. "Would you like me to turn on the television for ... View Post

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Words & Toothpaste

by Rita Macdonald

I heard the most incredible story today - a lesson someone's mom taught them as a child. So good, in fact, is this story that I just had to share. I can't take credit for it. I would have never thought to do this, but oh my goodness - what a powerful lesson! This particular mom sat all three of her children down at the kitchen table. She gave each of them a paper plate and a tube of toothpaste. She told the kids to squeeze their tubes of toothpaste onto the plate, emptying every bit of it out. After each of the tubes was squeezed empty, she placed in the center of the table a crisp $20 bill, promising them that whoever was able to get all of their toothpaste back into the tube would win the money! They all frowned and moaned, knowing full well how impossible the task at hand ... View Post

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The Gift of Memory

by Rita Macdonald

Do you ever think of your memory as a gift? I'm not sure I ever have - until, that is, I met an elderly gentleman whose wife had advanced Alzheimer's disease. He became ill, you see, and found himself a patient in the hospital. Having no family in the area, his worry over who would care for and keep his confused wife safe kept his anxiety at a level very difficult to manage while he was hospitalized. "To death to us part, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad......." If you ever want to see what that vow really looks like - talk to a couple who have been married for more than five decades. They know a little something about that. Heck, they know a little something about a whole lot of somethings, and we're just plain old stupid if we don't try to glean a little wisdom ... View Post

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Little Things 328 through 365

by Rita Macdonald

Each day this year, I've posted a little thing that I'm thankful for. It's transformed my attitude, my perspective, my prayers, and all sorts of other things. I've enjoyed posting my "little things" and often times have had to choose between so many good things in a day. But if I can be honest, I have also struggled on some days to remember to be thankful, especially when things have felt pretty crummy. I've had some friends tell me they have enjoyed reading them and actually look forward to them, and others who say they've stopped following me because they are sick of them. (Thankful for their honesty). And there are days when I've asked myself why I ever committed to posting 365 times this year, but even more days that I've looked forward to choosing what to give thanks ... View Post

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Bonbons For Nurses

by Rita Macdonald

I can't tell you the number of times I've driven home with a head full of stories I've wanted to blog - meaningful stories, sad stories, ones that make you realize what matters, ones that make you want to run home and hug those you love, or get on the phone and tell someone you love them, and often times ones that just make you laugh out loud! And yes, there are even some that really and truly make you go "Huh?" I literally have hundreds of them - and so does every other nurse I work with. Writing them is one of my most favorite things to do. Some people like to fish. Some like to climb mountains, or hunt, or swim, or run marathons. Not me. I like to write. Recently, however, I've gotten into the bad habit of being too busy. Too busy to do what I love. And in the past couple ... View Post

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Yes, This Is the Blog Post I Promised You

by Rita Macdonald

Hi. I hope the person this is intended for is reading this. Yes, it's intended for someone. They know who they are. But if, by chance, it's someone else - some random stranger who stumbled across this blog - yes, it's for you, too. I want to tell you about a gift I once bought a friend I loved. It was the most beautiful glass vase I'd ever seen - a pretty rose pink color with swirls of purples and blues. It was a very, very expensive piece from an art store in Birmingham - hand blown glass. There was no other vase like it in the world. My friend was worth every single dollar it cost me, and it cost me a lot! I REALLY wanted her to like it as much as I did. I bought a dozen long stem pink roses for her birthday, cut the stems, placed them perfectly in the vase, and put ... View Post

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Last Minute & Unexpected

by Rita Macdonald

Have you ever made plans time after time with the same friend, that somehow always seem to fall apart? Not necessarily anyone's fault..... It's just that every single time you try to get together to catch up, something comes up, and one or both of you have to cancel? It happens every single time - almost to the point that it feels like there's a conspiracy going on? But then, when spur of the moment you decide to call and see what that same friend is doing right now.... you somehow always manage to get together? Sometimes, the best visits are the unplanned ones, the last minute ones, the ones you're most unprepared for. For some reason, they just somehow seem to be the best ones of all. Does this ever happen to you? This morning I had a list of things to do - ... View Post

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Body Bags & Billionaires

by Rita Macdonald

When you tear open the plastic that body bags come in, they smell like a fresh liner of an old-fashioned above-the-ground swimming pool. Every time I open one, I take a big whiff and say that out loud to whoever I'm working with. I can't help it! It reminds me of my childhood days swimming in the Russell family pool. I spent a lot of time in that pool and I remember what a pool lining smells like. Every time I put a deceased person's body in a body bag, I remember a patient who told me how filthy rich he was. Those were his words - not mine. "Filthy" rich he called himself. He was a billionaire. That filthy rich patient had his meals delivered on china instead of paper plates. He had Egyptian cotton sheets delivered daily to his room. He was visited every shift by men in ... View Post

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