An Open Letter to our Mothers, Nurses and How we Kick Off Nursing Center Week

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I have trouble being brief…this is no secret to anyone.  Brevity is wise in many cases but when the effort for brevity shortchanges those who you are talking about, it no longer serves its purpose.  With that said, I wanted to send a letter to all mothers and nurses and explain why Mother’s Day as the kick-off to National Nursing Home week is so appropriate in my opinion.

We all have mothers and we are all touched by them in varieties of ways…they gave birth to us (no easy task), they love us, they discipline us, they teach us and model behavior for us, they delight us when they help us fulfill a wish and they become delights when we later learn they gave us tough love and the value of that lesson….that word “NO”.  They come in all forms, Mothers, Step–Mothers, Mothers-in-Law, Grandmothers and probably most importantly the women who are mothers to our children… they are not all sweet but then again…neither are we.  They provide us guidance that we don’t necessarily want, they elate us and make us furious but they are always doing something valuable and important.

Personally, my life has been blessed, and I think if you look you will find yours probably is as well in large part due to the influence of these women.  Sometimes, the toughest mothers make us the strongest adults and tough love is no easy thing…try it sometime.  It’s tough stuff and rare to find.  My definition of tough love is when we are given love in the form of guidance when the environment might make it easier for them to give us what we want rather than what they think we need.  Maybe that’s not a great or encompassing definition but it sums up what it means to me.  My life is full of these examples…I was raised by a mother enduring her own struggles and yet she did her best and while it was not always smooth, I never doubted that she loved me and I needed that. I was further blessed with a Grandmother of Grandmothers…she always made me feel so very special.  I wish that I had 15 minutes with her now…to tell her how much I love her and miss her care and naiveté…never waste a chance to tell the mothers in your life that you love them.  I later married and saw an incredible woman accept the love I have for my own daughter and treat her as if she was her own…she genuinely loves her…I have a couple of Mothers-in-Law that are great and while one is new in my life she has treated me as if I have always been there, and another Mother-in-Law who has always, despite reasons to feel differently, treated me with grace and understanding and I love her just as much because I see how she loves my daughter and lastly, I have the mother of my daughter and she has been a model of a partner in raising our daughter.  The blessing as you see is how many mothers have touched my life in different ways and I love them all.  They are all special people and I don’t know what I would have done without them at various points…so for those mothers who touch my life, thank you.  I’ll never do justice in showing you how I feel and expressing the appreciation I have for the roles you all played in forming me.  I hope if you ever question it you will keep this letter and re-read it.

Professionally, mothers fill my life…they are colleagues and nurses and CNAs…the list goes on and for you, I have a special message as well…you have probably meant to someone what the mothers that touched my life have meant to me.  Maybe you don’t hear it enough but it’s there…it’s in the choices your children make and in the love that you now give back to your moms.  There is nothing quite like a mom…I think it was Milton Berle who once said, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers”

We kick off National Nursing Center week with National Nurses Day on Friday and then Nursing Center week, followed by Nurses Week and CNA’s week and while there are plenty of us that are males and CNAs or NAs…this letter is to not only recognize the women that I love in life that are mothers but to celebrate Mothers and Nurses and CNAs…

Thank you all…for being a part of my life…my personal life and my work life.  I cannot actually think of a part of my life that you are not part of and for that I am ever grateful.

May your Mother’s Day be spent with those that you love, those that love you, those that depend on you and those of us who are always astounded when we take the time to reflect on what you have meant to us all.  You are loved.

Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Nurses Day, Happy Nursing Center Week!

David

David W. Tucker

President & Chief Operating Officer (COO), CCR