Bouts of pneumonia and severe asthma had dogged our child since birth\u2014but never like this. Sitting in the hospital waiting room, my husband and I didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d survive the night. We\u2019d been at Grandma\u2019s house when his lungs suddenly seized up. Epinephrine injections didn\u2019t help. Now he was on a ventilator.<\/p>\n
The nurse checked in on us from time to time to see if we needed anything. Otherwise, we were alone with our worries. Until a chaplain entered the room. I expected him to say the obligatory prayers, wish us well, and move on to others in need. And indeed, he sat across from us, leaned forward and bowed his head. But he said nothing.<\/p>\n
Perhaps he doesn\u2019t want to intrude<\/em>, I thought. Still, I was grateful for his presence. His silent prayer was comforting. I tried to sleep. Each time I briefly opened my eyes, I saw the chaplain there, deep in meditation.<\/p>\n After a restless night, the first rays of dawn finally crept through the window blinds. The nurse entered the room. \u201cYour son is out of danger,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be fine!\u201d My husband and I raced to his bedside.<\/p>\n Afterward, we asked the nurse how we could thank the hospital chaplain for waiting with us so long during the night.<\/p>\n \u201cThe chaplain?\u201d the nurse said, puzzled. \u201cHe\u2019s on vacation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo who was sitting in the waiting room with us?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI checked on you all night,\u201d the nurse said. \u201cYou were alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bouts of pneumonia and severe asthma had dogged our child since birth\u2014but never like this. Sitting in the hospital waiting room, my husband and I didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d survive the night. We\u2019d been at Grandma\u2019s house when his lungs suddenly seized up. Epinephrine injections didn\u2019t help. Now he was on a ventilator. The nurse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[2315],"class_list":["post-14390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n