Last week’s story prompt was something along the lines of “What proud accomplishment did you share together with a friend, colleague or family member.” I had to think a long time about that question, but finally I figured out the answer.

It’s been more than 25 years since Juanita Merriweather and I walked the corridors of 4 East together, but I can remember those days as if they happened last week. Juanita and I were a team, on the surface two quite disparate individuals – but despite our differences, a pair who fit together like hand in glove when all was said and done.

We were different, alright. I’m pretty sure I was 25 or 30 years younger than she was, for one thing. For another, at the time I was probably more than 100 pounds lighter. Juanita was a very large woman, with limbs as massive as the trunk of a small tree – but that’s not what stood out about her. She moved lightly and could carry her weight with grace and dignity.

I’m white, whereas Juanita was black. Black and beautiful. I’ve never really understood why the adjective “Colored” is so very terrible, for it describes Juanita much better than “black.” Her beautiful skin was the rich, mellow color of expensive mahogany. Looking back, I think she must have known how beautiful she was, for she never appeared at work without her makeup – but she certainly never looked “made up,” either. She was stunningly attractive, and her sunny smile would light up the room. Unlike so many good-looking women, however, Juanita’s beauty was not just skin-deep. She was beautiful through and through.

When I came to work with Juanita I had just quit a job at a hospital in which an appalling number of the nursing staff were content to do as little work as possible. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was a completely foreign notion to them, judging by their handiwork. Some would even duck into empty rooms and watch TV instead of doing any work at all, with the exception of the few minutes the Supervisors were patrolling our unit. These folks didn’t seem to care one whit about the wellbeing of the patients assigned to their care, and as a result I found myself trying to do their job as well as my own. It was an impossible situation.

One shift in the harness with Juanita Merriweather changed all that! We worked together like a well-oiled machine. We knew what had to be done, how it should be done, when it should be done, and together we saw that it WAS done. Juanita knew how to do her job to perfection, and it would have been unthinkable to her to shirk a single responsibility. She never hesitated to tackle the ugliest, smelliest and most disagreeable jobs, and she performed them cheerfully, thoroughly and to the best of her ability (which was considerable). Although she lacked formal nursing credentials, Juanita’s judgment was always correct, and her instincts were right on target. When we worked the floor together our patients were cared for, and cared for well. It might not seem an earth-shattering accomplishment to most people, but I can’t think of anything in my life of which I am more proud to have accomplished than the nursing I did alongside Juanita Merriweather.