In February, my son had a violent seizure in the early morning hours, and I called Marissa who came to our home to help me. She called 911 all while holding my son’s hand. She then came with us to the hospital, stayed over night with him because I was not allowed to keep my two younger children there over night. Marissa spent a total of three days at the hospital with us, leaving her own daughter with her grandmother so she could selflessly stay to help me and my son out.

On a normal day to day, my son would call Marissa and ask her to stop by a gas station to pick up a ginger ale for him and she always brings him two bottles. No matter how many times a day, after her shift, my son calls her, and she always answers and makes him feel special. On a frequent basis he tells Marissa that he loves her more than me .

Marissa always accompanies us to games on the weekends, she comes to church with us and even helps my son while his teacher is at home working with him. She gets meds at our local pharmacy on her way to work with us and at times, brings him whatever his heart desires. What Marissa did for me and my son this weekend, to stay at a hospital and take on the role of his care taker without hesitation, is beyond anything anyone has ever done for us.

She is the most selfless, caring, loving, involved, patient, kind, soft-spoken, and devoted person I know. We admire her actions and the fact that she would go above and beyond her call of duty to help out the family she works for. At this point Marissa isn’t just a nurse who comes and works with us, she is family.

I pray that other nurses choose this field because they have a heart for children. I pray that they all are like Marissa and make families and children in need, feel like Marissa does for us. I can not express all the gratitude I feel towards her and I can’t tell her enough how thankful I am to have her. If I ever leave the state in which I live in, I would take Marissa with me. She is definitely the poster child of what qualities a nurse should be.