I was caring for a patient the day after he went through open heart surgery – his wife had passed away years ago and his daughter was flying in from across the country to be with him for a few days as he recovered. I had talked to his daughter on the phone around 10am. She had told me that her flight just landed and she would be at the hospital in a few hours. I passed on the message to my patient, who got a big smile across his face and proceeded to tell me all of these wonderful things about his daughter, from how smart she was, to how hard she had worked to get her fabulous job, to how special she has always been to him even though they now live several thousand miles apart.
She arrived at the hospital in early afternoon and he was so happy to see her; his face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen it all day (even after his doses of pain medicine). :) They talked for a few minutes before her phone rang and she answered it, proceeding to stand on the other side of the room talking business. This continued for the next 3 hours or so…. they would talk for a few minutes, and then her phone would ring, or buzz with a text or email and off she would go… away from her dad’s bedside to attend to the phone. The look on his face each time she did was heartbreaking.
She left the hospital around dinnertime to drop off her bags at his house and get some dinner for herself. I was chatting with my patient and asked him how his visit went with his daughter and he replied, “well, it’s always good to see her even if we can’t catch up as much as I’d like to.” I asked him how long she was staying and he said “probably just a day or two… she’s so busy.”
She obviously cares very much about her dad – I could see that on her face when they were able to get a few sentences in with each other. She was just busy… as is everyone these days. Many of us have bad habits like texting or looking up information on the web while we’re out at dinner with our loved ones. We have the best technology at the tips of our fingers and it’s become a way of life to use it, but at what cost? We all need to take a step back from our online interactions to look at how they may be affecting our real like relationships.
I think it’s sad the way everyone has become. I make it a point to not look at my cell or take any phone calls at work or when I’m on a date. Or even with my mom. Sometimes you get so busy you stop living life, and I refuse to allow it to happen to me.