Pood
Noun
Definition of Pood
- A friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
- A friend who refreshes your soul. Proverbs 27:9
- Friends who encourage and build one another up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
- Friends who help each other out, should one of them fall. Ecclesiastes 4:10
- Friends who share heartfelt advice. Proverbs 27:9
- Someone who makes a pinky promise and 15 years later, has renewed said pinky promise several times.
- Someone who welcomes your family members into their home when they’re moving across country, and makes them feel right. at. home. (Basically, they take care of your kid when you can’t.)
- Someone you can just call and go, “Pood…” and they reply… “I know.”
- A Pood is someone who doesn’t laugh at you, when you forgo looking at the menu at the fancy restaurant, tell the waitress what you want, and it turns out what you ordered is actually called, “The Most Boring Breakfast,” on the menu. I’m predictable. I know.
- A Pood is also someone who prays for you, and prays for your whole family. Every. Single. Day.
ORIGIN OF THE WORD Pood
The term Pood originated at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital, specifically on the Medical Intensive Care Unit, and to be even more specific, 4 East, and to be even more specific than that – shout out to Brynn, Cora, & Julie for inventing the whole concept!
HISTORY OF THE Poods
My friend Sharon and I started working in MICU at the same time, and oriented for several months together.
Now, I absolutely LOVE almost everything about being a nurse, but there is this very strange phenomenon about nurses being very territorial about their particular specialty, and they are known for what is referred to as, “eating their young.” This was especially true of the ICU environment when Sharon and I began our orientation. It was absolutely brutal. So brutal in fact, that I was once assigned two CRRT patients (unheard of) three rooms apart from each other, purposefully! And yes, I still remember the person who got a kick out of doing that to me. I’m sure he remembers too, because he got in trouble. (Disclosure: It was NOT brutal when I LEFT MICU).
Day after day we stuck together and endured, and made sure when RN’s would start after us, that we found opportunities to welcome and encourage them, because we knew they were getting eaten alive as well. One day, we made a pinky promise to each other to never, ever, ever participate in the eating of our young, and to always make sure new nurses on the unit felt welcome and encouraged.
During our orientation, there were three girls – Brynn, Cora, and Julie who referred to each other as “Poods.” It was obvious to all that they were very close friends, and all three of them called one another Pood.
Sharon and I were like, “What the heck is a Pood?” They laughed and went on to explain that they had each other’s backs, could tell each other anything, knew and loved each other’s families, listened to one another complain, spoke truth to each other even when it hurt, and made a promise to remain Poods for life! So, Sharon and I looked at each other and said, “Let’s be Poods,” and with their permission, we were able to become Poods, and have been Poods now since 2007!
Fast forward many years, Sharon and I still recall our pinky promise we made all those many years ago to make all new nurses feel welcome and loved, and we still promise to keep it.
Sharon completed Nurse Practitioner school, and has way more credentials and letters after her name than any other person I know. She and Mike then moved to Colorado ten years ago, and we have never lost touch, and have talked about our pinky promise each time we’ve talked.
When my son, Ian, went out to interview in Denver last year, he stayed with Sharon and Mike, and felt like he was right at home. Soon after that, he accepted a position at Cherry Hills Community Church, moved across the country from Chicago to Littleton, and stayed with Pood until he was married to Hayley in January of this year. Both Sharon and Mike have endeared themselves as family members to Ian and Hayley, as well as to Hayley’s family. (Sharon and Mike are pretty easy to love).
I flew out when the wedding preparations had begun, and we both took Ian to make sure he was fitted properly for his suit and dress shirt. I was so glad to have her with us! And Pood had a coupon! Thanks, Pood!
Ian and Hayley caught COVID and had to quarantine in Mike and Sharon’s house. Sorry, Pood!
Mike and Sharon were very generous to Ian and Hayley when they got their very first place together, giving them some furniture they no longer needed, and helping them to get moved in and established. Thanks, Pood!
Sharon’s sweet daughter Ally, who has become like a little sister now to Ian and Hayley, was just accepted to Michigan State for the fall. Congratulations, Ally! So Mike and Sharon have sold their Colorado home, and are soon headed back to the Mitten State. I’m so sad for Ian and Hayley, but I’m so selfishly happy for me! me! me!
My Pood is coming home! Yassssss!
Listen…
If you’re a young nurse, please don’t ever eat your young, okay? Also, find yourself a Pood, because every good nurse needs a Pood.
Pood Used In Sentence
Hurry up and get home, Pood. I miss ya. And it’s my turn to show some Mitten State hospitality!
Edna Mezzanstto says
Pood is my Aunt Linda in Tennessee