Dear Sophia:
I picked up an elderly man and he talked about how his wife had been in the hospital the previous week. His wife had been quite ill. So much so that he said there was one night that he ended up staying up all night.
A French nurse came to him while he was there and sat and talked gently with him through the night. He was so appreciative.
He said to me “She has the most interesting story. I said,”Tell me?”
During the pandemic, the nurse got her paperwork to come to New Zealand, from France. There were no flights because it was during the height of the pandemic and Paris was a nightmare. So the only flight that she could get that would be cleared to come all the way to New Zealand was on Emirates, and that was flying from Dubai. This French nurse was so keen to come to New Zealand, that she got in her car and drove to Dubai.
All I could think is how much I would like to talk to this French nurse to the point where I actually called a friend who works with the hospital and asked how I might find this nurse. Then I thought to myself: this violates the whole ethos of Dear Sofia. So I decided not to follow up on finding the nurse. I’m hoping that the universe will work it out.
Imagine wanting to get to New Zealand so much that you get in your car and you drive to Dubai from Paris. It would take at least two days and 19 hours non stop, but of course you’d have to stop because you’d drive through Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia where female drivers are a new phenomenon.
Haere Mai determined nurse. Thank you for coming. Please contact me if you want to tell your story, because I am utterly fascinated.
Love,
Lilo
