My father passed away. Prior to his passing, he had spent 6 weeks in the hospital and had been under the care of many wonderful nurses and doctors. The best care he received was in the MICU at WakeMed Raleigh, where he stayed for two weeks. I truly believe that the staff in the ICU bought us precious time with my father, and he had some of his best, most lucid days while he was there.

While I am grateful for each member of the WakeMed MICU staff, I would like to recognize one nurse who really went above and beyond. Sumer was an absolute gift to my father and my family. Sumer had this unique ability to see through the cognitive decline and see my dad for the brilliant man that he was. She had deep philosophical conversations with him. He shared his music with her, and she would ask him really profound questions about it, questions that really made him think, questions I don't think anyone had ever asked him before. He really needed that in a time when he was constantly being asked what year it was or if he knew his name.

Sumer was patient with my dad. He once spent 30 minutes trying to explain to her which ginger ale was the right ginger ale (he was pretty particular). She made him laugh, think, and feel cared about. She was also a huge help to me during this difficult time, providing clarity and extremely thorough updates. She was honest, transparent, and perceptive. While I can't quite recall the context, I remember on one call with Sumer she said, "That's how you know I love him." She said she would continue to check on him, even if she wasn't assigned to him. I cried tears of relief that day. This was an extremely trying time, and I was so anxious to leave him, but I knew I didn't have to worry about him while he was in Sumer's care. That kind of comfort is worth more than I could ever put into words. I met so many nurses over the course of my dad's 6 weeks in the hospital, and many of them were wonderful, but Sumer was special. I will forever be grateful to her.

Note: This is Sumer's 2nd DAISY Award!