Gratitude for those in the health care profession

An 8-year-old girl named Virginia recently reminded me that Christmas is not about the presents wrapped under the tree or the dollars spent filling stockings. The season is about the magic that happens when normal humans believe in something extraordinary.

This Christmas, my family witnessed the amazing care and compassion of the doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, patient care assistants, janitors, cooks, and staff at the Yale New Haven Health Smilow Cancer Hospital.

My mother, who has had cancer four times in her 58 years, continues to recover from a double mastectomy with DIEP flap breast reconstruction. Her most recent complication sent her to the emergency department on Saturday afternoon, just as we started to celebrate the holiday weekend.

Although my mom thinks she ruined Christmas, she actually made it more meaningful. She made us believe in the love, generosity, and devotion of strangers, who spend time away from their own families to care for the families of others.

Eventually, we will thaw the stuffed shrimp from Anthony’s Ocean View and unwrap an Amazon Fire Stick or two. But this year, I want to share my gratitude for those in the healthcare profession. Thank you, Dr. Horowitz, Dana, Alex, and all of the others who have treated my mom. You will continue to make well the hearts of moms and sons for Christmases to come. — Patrick O’Brien, Milford