This afternoon I spent an hour that was pure privilege, in the company of people I'd never met before, gathered around a hospital bed.  To be allowed into the lives of people you know is privilege enough, this, then, was maybe privilege tenfold.

To see people freed, if for a moment, from fear, dread and sadness...

To play a tiny part in the making of memories that will last forever...

To witness the healing of hurts and the transformation from empty ending to hopeful completion...

To be allowed in...

To be handed fizzy grape juice, to be kissed and thanked for - what? - being a person with two inches of white plastic at her throat...

This goes beyond ordinary privilege

This puts into perspective niggles and annoyances

This is pure blessing

And, yes, this is mine to name and to share glady.