John Yurek

So today was the funeral. It doesn't feel real. I know one of the things that always strikes me when a person dies at work is how they leave. It doesn't seem right how they slip away unnoticed, while the rest of the world just keeps going like nothing even happened. It always bothers me and sometimes I just want to scream. "My patient in room 325 just died! She was a person and now she gone...can we stop just for a second to morn????" But life is busy. We have the little nursery chimes for births at the hospital, but who wants to hear when someone dies?

Today was remarkable because I felt like the world did stop for a few moments to honor John...and he deserved it. (I still can't believe he is really gone...so young). As we left the service and started down the street in the funeral procession, my heart was touched. Cars slowed and stopped as we passed by...and it was a long row of cars. Buses and work vehicles on the opposite side of the road turned on their blinkers while pulling to the side of the road. It meant so much to me that these strangers, who didn’t even know John, would take a few minutes to honor him as they let us pass. This is an American tradition that I am proud of.