To the Parents of the Boy We Lost.

Recently, we took care of a teenage boy in our PICU who had been struggling with a lifelong chronic illness and accompanied him and his parents during the last few days of his life. We had the privilege of getting to know him and his parents quite well during the last few years, as he required hospitalization several times during this time. We saw how extremely dedicated his parents had been to him and his care, how they left no stone unturned and sacrificed everything they could to help him have the best quality of life possible. I happened to not be on service, nor know about the moment when he passed away. I also missed when his funeral took place. I wanted to reach out to his parents, to express how much his life and their love for him had meant to me, too, and to find some closure. So I wrote this short poem for them, and for all the other parents, who have to go through the most difficult time a parent can ever go through-as a pediatric intensivist, a Mom who has never been where they had to go, a fellow human being, and a grieving friend.