Mrs. Dahl Got a Surprise and We Got Cake

There was only about an hour left for the day shift. We all worked regular eight-hour shifts back then, meaning that it was about 2 p.m. on a quiet Sunday afternoon in early June many years ago.

We used to get some of the patients up in reclining geriatric chairs and set them out in the hallways so we could have contact with them as we worked. I was at the nurse's station shuffling papers. The phone was not ringing. The doctors had basically come and gone for the day. Nurses were standing at the wall servers outside the patient rooms finishing up their charting.

Then, oddly, I heard the rustle of silk and the taps of formal shoes in the entrance hallway.



I looked up over the nurse station counter to see a stunningly radiant and beautiful bride in her long wide pearly gown, followed by her retinue. They were hushed.

They went down the hallway to Mrs. Dahl's room. She'd had a fall a week ago and was recovering from hip surgery. She often spoke about her worry that she was going to miss her favorite niece's wedding.

So they brought the wedding to her. A clergyman was among those who came with the wedding party. There were bridesmaids and attendants to the groom, all in their fancy attire, and various family and friends.

Time slowed.

The clergyman performed the ceremony in the hall with Mrs. Dahl, smiling unforgettably, in her geri-chair sitting among the wedding party.

Our staff had gathered at a respectful distance to watch. Many of the nurses had tears.

There was The Kiss and then things got louder as people celebrated and a guitarist played a crude version of the appropriate music.

They shared their lovely cake with us staff. Mrs. Dahl loved chocolate.



Me too.