The Girl with the Golden Smile



It has been a week now since I lost a dear friend. Every day as I’ve gone on living my life; taking care of my family, cleaning my house, making food, wiping tears, studying chinese, going for doctors visits, she has never been far from my mind. Memories of her have been heavy on my heart and I’m hoping that putting them down in writing will help me say goodbye. I’m a world away from all the other mourners, I can’t go to the funeral, and I can’t hug my friends as they grieve. The weight of that has made my heart ache. For me sometimes the best way to process is simply to write, so this post will be very personal to me, and maybe won’t make very much sense if you didn’t know Maureen.

Maureen Haley was the girl with the golden smile. I met her 8 years ago when I began my very first nursing job at Doylestown Hospital. She was often my preceptor and from the first time I met her she captivated me. She was a tiny Irish girl, with auburn hair, and a smile made of golden sunshine. She may not have been tall, but she was so full of life that her presence lit up a room and made it a better place than it had been before she walked in the door. It was impossible not to smile when she smiled, her zest for life and the air of fun that surrounded her were unquenchable. I doubt that anyone who ever had the opportunity to know her will forget that smile it was a smile that went deep down behind her eyes and glistened. I often thought that God created her with such impish perfection that she was almost like a pixie come to life. Her laughter was so contagious it was almost magical. We provided medicine and treatment for sick and struggling people in that ER but her smile was medicine all in itself. Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful heart is good medicine” and that is what she had.

She was one of the best nurses I ever had the privilege to work with. She knew her stuff and treated people with skill and accuracy, but better than that she treated them with dignity and compassion. I learned so much every time I entered a room with her. She was a wonderful teacher and taught me many things as a nurse that I will never forget. My favorite days at the hospital were all spent working with her. I trusted her and knew her rhythm as a nurse better than anyone else there. The days I spent working with her were never really work for me, they were just fun.

But aside from just at work she became a treasured friend to me. Even though she was tiny, she was amazingly strong. Her life was nothing close to easy. She experienced loss after loss of treasured family members and was always battling with her own very precarious health. She had cystic fibrosis, but to see her you would never have guessed. She was a fighter and she fought to live her life to it’s very fullest. I will never forget what she taught me about living every day with spirit and a smile on your face. I think she understood this truth: Ecclesiates 7:14 “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made one as well as the other so that man might fear before him”

Two of her very best and most precious friends kept me up to date as she struggled in these past few weeks so I could know how to pray. I will never be able to thank them enough for that. It meant so much to me as I was so far away and couldn’t give her that last hug in person. They told me she slipped away at peace and it gives my heart no end of comfort to know that. She and I talked often of peace as she was loosing her brother Terrance. We talked through the story of the Bible, of God’s everlasting love and his plan to save us that He fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We talked much of Jesus words to us and the hope that he offered. Jesus said “I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have troubles, but take heart, I have overcome the world” I have to believe with all my heart that her peace was found in that truth and that now she is finally at rest with the one who created her and blessed us all through her smile of gold. Her face was always a reflection of the pure joy and beauty of heaven. Oh how I miss that smile.

Comments

  1. judy finnMarch 27, 2012 at 6:35 PM

    what a beautiful tribute... :( I miss her too

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 28, 2012 at 6:04 AM

    Thank you for sharing your memories of Maureen. She was a special lady!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 28, 2012 at 10:40 AM

    Thanks for sharing!!! A great tribute!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 29, 2012 at 10:31 PM

    that was Great, thanks. I needed that.

    ReplyDelete

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