\u201cMother, ask them to let you come to the operating room with me and hold my hand. That\u2019s all I need\u2026just till I go to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll let me, Julie,\u201d I said sadly. \u201cRules are rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew, from the two previous minor surgeries Julie had experienced during the past several years, that she would put on a brave front, smile and go to surgery without any complaints. But down in the operating room, as she waited to be put to sleep (there was always the wait), she\u2019d shake. Not tremble mildly, but shake so violently that she\u2019d be sore from the shaking.<\/p>\n
This operation to remove wisdom teeth was not serious, but Julie had a horror of this trembling that was beyond her control. \u201cMother, I dread the shaking more than the surgery or the pain. I\u2019m eighteen years old, engaged to be married, and I shake so hard I rattle the bars on the bed. I\u2019m shaking already!\u201d And she was.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have an idea,\u201d I told her. From my purse I pulled out a small card. The day before, when I\u2019d been searching through my desk drawer for a stamp, the smiling face of a little girl on the card had seemed to look up right at me. She had red hair like Julie and was saying, \u201cHi, I just wanted to tell you that\u2026.\u201d The rest of her message had been on the inside of the greeting card. I tore off the printed message and added my own so that the adorable little girl seemed to be whispering, \u201cI need someone to hold my hand while I\u2019m waiting to be put to sleep. I won\u2019t shake if you\u2019ll hold my hand. Thanks. Julie.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read the note to her and added, \u201cIf you\u2019ll let me, I\u2019ll tape this note to your sheet. Someone in the operating room will see it. I even remembered tape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll think I\u2019m a baby,\u201d Julie said softly.<\/p>\n
Just then an attendant came to take Julie to surgery. I helped her tuck Julie\u2019s long hair under the small green cap, and watched forlornly as she was placed on the wheeled cart. At the door I read Julie\u2019s lips, \u201cI love you.\u201d I kissed her on the forehead and waved goodbye.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five minutes later the doctor phoned me to say that Julie was in recovery and would be back in the room in a short while. He said surgery had gone beautifully. When they brought Julie back, her eyes were open and she was smiling as best she could with the gauze pads sticking out of her mouth and the ice pack tied around her head. She winked and made an \u201cokay sign\u201d by putting her thumb and forefinger together in a circle.<\/p>\n
Then she began waving her hand around to get my attention. She couldn\u2019t talk and wanted to write. I handed her a pad and a pen. Still groggy, she scribbled, \u201cI have to see the nice black lady who came to get me. She read your note and stayed with me and held my hand. She never left me. She kept me from shaking. Even wrapped me in warm sheets. Please find her.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I promised I would, Julie went immediately to sleep.<\/p>\n
Later in the day, I asked one of the aides if the woman from the operating room could stop by Julie\u2019s room.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, that\u2019s Ernestine. I\u2019ll ask her to stop by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ernestine came in flashing a warm smile. I showed her the note from Julie. Even with the gauze pads in her mouth, Julie managed to say, \u201cThank you.\u201d Ernestine brushed off my attempts at gratitude and talked instead about Julie\u2019s pretty red hair.<\/p>\n
When the doctor came by that evening, he asked right away, \u201cDid you put that note on Julie?\u201d<\/p>\n
Not sure of what be was going to say, I admitted that I had.<\/p>\n
His stern face broke into an enormous grin. \u201cWell, that was about the neatest thing we\u2019ve seen in the operating room. We want to help people. Often we just don\u2019t know what their fear is. Ernestine stayed right with Julie. I wish more people would tell us about their fear, so we\u2019d know how to help them. Thanks for the note.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the doctor left I sat down and looked out the window. I could see people moving in the busy street below, some walking, going into shops, riding in cars. I wondered how many of those people harbored unspoken fears. And pondered how much better it would be for all of us to admit out weaknesses, ask for help, confess when we\u2019re afraid.<\/p>\n
Watching Julie sleep, my heart was filled with gratitude. She\u2019d had the courage to admit to strangers her desperate need\u2026please hold my hand\u2026and the Lord had provided Ernestine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMother, ask them to let you come to the operating room with me and hold my hand. That\u2019s all I need\u2026just till I go to sleep.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll let me, Julie,\u201d I said sadly. \u201cRules are rules.\u201d I knew, from the two previous minor surgeries Julie had experienced during the past several years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[377],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[764],"class_list":["post-22967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emotional-and-mental-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n