A full circle moment.
When I was 18 years old, I walked into the ICU at Loma Linda Hospital in Southern California and saw my father on a ventilator. At that moment, I knew he was going to die because he had always told me that he did not want any kind of artificial life support. I was so dazed by what I was seeing that I didn't dare take another step into the room. A sweet nurse approached me and knew right away that I had not been told about his condition. She offered me information, assurance, and the kindness to stay beyond visiting hours to say my goodbyes. There are a lot of crazy details that I will skip just to say that less than 24 hours later, I was by his side as they removed all of his tubes, wires, and devices and let him pass away. If someone had walked up to me at that time in my life and said that I'd have any kind of career in health care, I might have punched them. Doctor's offices, hospitals, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities had now become a pla...