Over the Christmas period we will be sharing a series of blogs with you which highlight what it’s like at Myton and for our nurses out in the community during the festive season.
With the last of our three annual Light up a Life services taking place last weekend we wanted to start by sharing a poem written by Deputy Sister on our Coventry Inpatient Unit, Karen O’Shea:
Light up a life
The day has been chilly it’s now growing dark
The people who are driving are trying to park
The crowd is getting larger as people join the throng
They are here and ready to raise their voices in song
The tree is shining brightly adorned with flickering lights
Feelings of anticipation begin to reach their heights
Families have gathered to remember people they have loved the best
Understanding that the emotion of tonight will put them to the test
They want to be there to show how much they cared
And as a mark of respect on an evening for which they feel they have prepared
Some recognise faces from other rooms that they have come to know
Of families who have journeyed in a different way, but also
The choir feel proud to stand ahead of the crowd
Much preparation has enabled them to stay in tune and sing out loud
The CEO is to the front and on her feet, she is happy today to feel a little less elite
Working hard she tries to keep the melody sweet, the pleasure of singing is clearly a treat
Volunteers are here bringing their own particular cheer, dotted amongst the gathering
Quietly making a difference for which they require no flattering
They are the people who are always “just there”
Whose names won’t be remembered as much as their tea and care
The orator chosen for her clarity of speech carefully adds to the proceedings
Her words she has memorised, but still she feels nervous preceding
She skilfully delivers her thought provoking reading
This serves to remind us of the purpose of the evening
The staff who watch from indoors are secretly glad of the one way glass
They feel privileged to have looked after the people who came to pass
When individuals they recognise outside catch their eye
They reminisce which intermittently makes them smile and cry
The silence falls, the darkness has now descended
The poignancy of the event is reaching a crescendo as intended
Families lifted from the blackness of the night
Remember someone whose name now shines with light
Everyone here carries the loss of one who is with us no more
A person who has left a big gap for sure
But tonight has enabled them to stop and think, to feel and to recall
The way they feel about the person that has their name upon the wall.