Thoughts for today

The last few weeks, I have been participating in my first clinical internship. My first internship has been at a hospital, and I have absolutely loved it. I have worked primarily with neuro patients who tend to be pleasantly confused about life, which presents many challenges but usually offers some humor as well. The way I see it, when you are as sick as some of these patients are or have been through what some of them have, I'd much rather be out of my mind and flying around the world and through time in my imagination as well.

The past few weeks we have bounced around to some different floors, cardiac, med-surg, other ICUs, etc. We have stumbled upon some characters in these adventures. One in particular that will stick out in my mind for a while was a man who was born just before the Depression. He and his roommate commiserated as they told us stories about growing up with only 2 hours worth of radio broadcasting per week, with no TV, etc. etc. Kind of that some old "you young folks don't realize how good you have it" lesson. Which is very true.

In high school, one of our teachers made us read Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation, a compilation of interviews and stories of this generation that grew up during the Depression, then fought valiantly through 2 world wars, stuck together through all the turmoil of the mid-1900s and now comprise our dwindling elderly generation. I grew to admire this generation through this book and through many talks and interviews with grandparents. They have so much wisdom; they've been through so much and yet remain so humble and self-less.

Then today happened. I heard about Osama bin Ladin's killing today at the hospital, but was kind of out of the loop as to what actually happened. So, I came home and youtubed Obama's speech he gave last night announcing what had happened. I was overwhelmed as he spoke about the families of those killed on 9/11 and about the unity we experienced as a nation around that time. But what brought me to tears was when he spoke of our troops and a generation that has paid the majority of the price during this war. It hit me as I thought of friends, family, family of friends, young men and women so close to me that are part of different branches of the armed forces, those that dream of serving one day, my generation. I tend to be pretty tough on my generation here in America, judgmental at times of the rebellion and lack of responsibility and integrity I see in many around me. But today, I was thankful. We have been through a lot since 2001 when many of us still lived with our parents and were under a naive impression of what the world had to offer us. We entered a different world than that of generations before us, and so many have valiantly stepped up to the plate to serve those around them and fight for justice and peace no matter the cost.

I have wondered at times if we could ever experience anything like "the greatest generation" again, if anyone would ever look back on the legacy we leave with that sort of admiration and praise. With today's revelation, I can't help but think that 50 or 60 years down the road, we, my friends, my generation, will be those telling tales in the hospital rooms of a time when we once again answered the call and fought bravely in the face of evil. Many things the past decade have marked us and refined us, causing us to mature in ways I hope are not easily forgotten.