30 day challenge / day 16

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.

Dr. Thomas Pinkstaff (Feb. 26, 1937  - Easter Sunday Apr. 12, 2009 )

Dr. Pinkstaff was one of the most amazing physicians and person I have ever had the honor of knowing and working with.  He was kind.  Sweet.  Caring.  Compassionate, and passionate about life, work (pediatrics), family, and god.  I never saw the man angry, upset, or not wearing a smile.  He always had something nice to say about everyone.  Never once did I hear him say anything negative.  I think the most negative comment I heard him say once was "so-and so...well, they are a little odd".... Even that comment shocked me from him (even though the person he was referring to was far from odd and was just down right evil with a rotten core). He loved his wife and family.  Every Friday, he knew that his wife would have her hair done, so he would call her to tell her "honey your hair looks beautiful" he'd say smiling and laughing.  Every Friday.  You could tell when he discussed his wife, he loved her so passionately.  At the end of every phone call, we knew he was talking to her with the sweet voice saying "I love you dear"  He had that "sparkle" in his eye discussing her, the children, and the grandchildren (who spent the night every Friday night.....which at 3pm every Friday he would remind us how excited he was to see the kids. And discuss the big plans that they had that weekend.  One of the children was autistic, but he certainly never seemed to favor him, or seem to treat him any different because of it.  I actually would sometimes forget he had an autistic grandchild just because in conversation, he was his grandson... not the grandson with autism.  Just the grandson.  Which is awesome. 

 He had a wonderful sense of humor, and some of the jokes were jokes that we heard weekly.  But of course, we laughed as if we had never once heard the joke.  "like a tomato, I'll ketchup with you later".  Some of those cute little one liners were just part of Dr. Tom, and if we didn't hear them at some point in the day, we would actually be worried and know something was wrong.  But, that was hardly the case.  At least if something was wrong, he never showed it.

He was extremely supportive of all the staff.  Even those who seemed to some of us to be the most useless waste of space (hey, we all have them as coworkers at some point or another) he would find the positives in them.  And never failed to point them out to that person and other people.  He would tell me "you should go to Medical School, April.  You are so smart."  "You always do such a wonderful job"  "the patients are so blessed to have you take care of them!"  The clinic certainly seemed to have a much more upbeat and positive feel on days that Dr. Tom was working. 

 "Dr Tom" as his patients called him.... loved him.  Deeply.  A lot of the patients were children of patients that he had taken care of when they were young many many moons prior.  And I don't think I remember a time that he didn't remember a patient that he had taken care of... regardless if they were 2 months old, or 30 or 40 years old.  It was part of his charm.  And no matter how bratty the patient, or pain in the you know what the parent was...he treated them all the same..with the same admiration.  No matter how far behind we were in the schedule, he never appeared rushed.  Never cut short the small talk and catching up with generations of patients.  He had a way with patients too, boy did he ever.  I don't know if it was his gentleness or calming voice, or warm smile.

Here is a website that discusses some of the "facts" behind Dr. Pinkstaff.  You know, the what he accomplished in his career..where he worked.  But at the end of the day, those are facts that define very little on *WHO* you were. 

Dr. Pinkstaff had a very short battle with cancer.  It was one that once they discovered, he only was given a couple of weeks to live.  I remember that Easter Sunday.  I was in the Children's Hospital doing my clinical internship for Nursing School.  I over heard someone say "I heard Dr. Pinkstaff passed away about an hour ago".  My heart sunk, and the tears began.  Of course, nobody knew that I knew him and had known him for 3 years at this point.  So I took a moment, and gathered myself together, and carried on the day.  I was lucky enough to have a boss who allowed me and another coworker who had worked with him for many years to attend his funeral.  It was packed.  Eventually all the seats were taken and the only thing left was standing room.  Even standing room became hard to find.  Many people spoke.  Family, friends, colleagues.  In the crowd you could find multiple patients as well.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the church.  I knew at that moment, that this man who had touched me deeply, had touched hundreds of thousands of lives in his life.. if not more.  The world really lost an amazing man that day.

The song last played at his funeral, is one that I still don't hear without at least thinking about him... usually a small tear will be involved.