The day my son met the (MHRI) president…
Guest Blogger: Deliya B. Wesley, PhD, MPH, Program
Manager, Health Services Research
Last Monday I
was preparing to return to work after being out for several months on maternity
leave. As one might imagine, I was dealing with a range of different emotions
that morning: leaving my new baby at home, the angst of going back to work and getting
reacquainted with month’s worth of project work, catching up with coworkers, and
getting used to a new daily routine which now also involved dropping my 2 year
old son, Isaac, at daycare before starting my day.
That morning I was juggling several large bags full of
things I needed to bring back to the office. So I decided to first make a quick
stop in the office to drop off my things, before going to get my son settled
for the day at daycare. With my son in tow, I arrived in the building and
happened to run into Dr. Weissman, who was getting on the elevator at the same
time. He greeted me with a warm “welcome back” and immediately crouched down to
greet my son, who usually talks a mile-a-minute but was now putting on his best
shy act as he clung onto my leg pretending to hide. Dr. Weissman proceeded to
introduce himself to Isaac and without a second thought invited us to go into
his office so he could give Isaac something. Isaac happily bounced down the
hallway, following Dr. Weissman into his office. Once there, he handed Isaac
one of the MHRI giveaways from his bookshelf. Isaac examined it curiously and
then gave Dr. Weissman a high five on his way out, clutching onto his memento.
I try to always make sure my son remembers people by name,
so I repeated Dr. Weissman’s name to him as I walked him to daycare. Later that
evening when we got home, Isaac was recounting his day and told his
grandparents that he met “Dr. Iceman”.
It’s a fairly simple story but one that made me smile. “Dr.
Iceman’s” simple act and kind gesture that morning actually completely changed
the tone and mood of my first day back, making it so much easier to settle back
into work. It’s nice to work at a place where even the president made time for
the (literal) little guy.
And like any good mom I always have my phone at the ready to
capture the moment….
Such a nice story. You put a smile on my face today.
ReplyDelete