Innocence

When I graduated from High School I decided that nursing would be my profession. And so it was for nearly forty years. I’ve been asked many times about where I worked and what I did as a nurse. I went to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for my training as an RN and worked there for two years before moving to California. My resume is really too long for all that I did, but I must admit that my 10 years in Newborn Nursery were my absolute favorite. I must smile when I talk about this because that was the last place I thought I’d ever work.

At the time I had just moved to Connecticut from California where I had worked for several years in a surgical intensive care unit at UCLA Hospital. I had not worked in a nursery since nursing school and things had changed quite a bit in that specialty. Of course, babies are still the same, so I finally gave in and went for an interview. One look at those sweet innocent beings and I fell in love. They hired me on the spot, and I gave notice to the Oral Surgeon that I had worked for only a year.

I must admit that my ten years in newborn nursery was my absolute favorite. Those sweet innocent God beings were just delightful. Their needs were simple, as were their activities. They ate, slept, cried, peed and pooped twenty-four hours a day. Most of all, they were able to spend time with mom and dad who loved and held them longer than the nursery personnel could.

Being an RN, I cared mostly for those who were sick, premature and any others that needed special care. If they were too ill for our limited staff and equipment, they were transferred to the closest teaching hospital which was Yale in New Haven, CT. Many times I rode in the back of the ambulance down curving roads, since a direct Interstate did not exist. At one point, I was sent there for a month of training, which was quite helpful.

Newborn Nursery is not the easiest place to work, but just being around the babies was really as good as it gets for me. Why, you may wonder? Those little God Beings were completely innocent and I was privileged to care for them.

What I learned over many years as I grew spiritually is that the innocence we see in them is still in us. When I think of my own innocence, it brings tears to my eyes. If we could only remember that regardless of who we become or what we do, just like me and my 80 plus Grandma, the innocence is still there.

Written For You with Love,

Rev. Dr. Barbara Rasp