It’s hard to put into words what it feels like to carry invisible wounds - the kind you don’t talk about easily. I served two tours as an 88M20, and while I made it home, not all of me came back. The weight of trauma, the memories that never fade, the silence that follows you - it becomes something you just learn to live with. Or at least, you try. That’s where I was - numb, guarded, tired - when I walked into the Ventura VA Outpatient Clinic. I wasn’t expecting much. I had learned not to expect too much. But then I met Nurse Rio-Gracia Shaw.

She didn’t treat me like a number or rush through our interaction. She did something rare - she saw me. She sat down with me, not just as a nurse, but as a human being who cared. She gave me her full attention, her time, and most importantly, her heart. As I opened up about things I usually keep locked away, she listened - truly listened, not with pity, but with understanding. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t turn away. She stayed right there with me in that hard space, and I can’t explain how much that meant. In that moment, I didn’t feel broken. I felt heard. I felt safe. Nurse Shaw didn’t stop at empathy. She provided me with real resources, real support - things that gave me a new sense of hope. Not the kind you hear about in brochures, but the kind that comes from someone believing in you when you’ve stopped believing in yourself. I walked into that clinic carrying years of pain.

I left that same afternoon carrying something I hadn’t felt in a long time: the belief that I could get better. Even my family noticed the difference. They saw a light in me that had been missing. In just one conversation, Nurse Shaw reminded me of my worth, my strength, and that healing is possible. I’ll never forget what she did for me that day. She didn’t just do her job - she changed a life. Rio-Gracia Shaw is the very definition of what the DAISY Award stands for. Her compassion, dedication, and ability to reach people in their darkest moments are a gift - and I am beyond grateful to have been on the receiving end of it.