Nearly 16 years ago I married, moved to Columbus, and started a new job as an ICU nurse at Columbus Children’s Hospital. Because of my lack of seniority, I was placed on the swing shift rotation, meaning I did two weeks of day shift followed by two weeks of night shift. Even though the hours were not ideal to living a normal life, I preferred my night shift rotation. One of the reasons was because night shifts were much calmer. Doctors weren’t rounding on patients. Family members weren’t coming in for visits. And the phone hardly ever rang.

The other reason was because of my friend, Lynn*. She worked straight night shift, and whenever we worked together it was a blast. We were about the same age, both fairly new to the unit, and had lots in common. When Lynn, another friend Jodi, and I were all on the same shift, we were labeled “The Three Musketeers.” When we weren’t caring for our patients, we’d be sharing stories, forming relationships, and laughing. We did a lot of laughing. If I ever needed help with something, I knew I could count on Lynn or Jodi to cheerfully pitch in and give me a hand.

Life changes. After KT was born, I quit my job at Children’s Hospital and found a job with a better schedule. It came as no surprise that as time went on, Lynn and I grew apart. We’d visit occasionally at first. Then we turned to emails. Intermittently we’d send an email giving a quick update. But it wasn’t like it had been on those night shifts.

Years passed. Nine years actually. Then Lynn took the bull by the horns. She planned an outing. This past Saturday we met at the Columbus Zoo. KT, Nick and I met up with Lynn and her two boys. It was like we never missed a beat. We picked up right where we had left off. We shared stories about our current jobs–hers as an R.N. in Labor & Delivery, mine as a home schooling stay-at-home mom. We shared our dreams, our frustrations, and our problems. And we laughed….a lot.

One of the things that struck me was when Lynn shared stories about her younger son. She was telling me about some special needs he has. She was near tears when she shared with me how she’s often had to, somewhat assertively, go to bat for her son. I could see that look on her face that proved she was a mom. She had a fire in her eyes that told me she’d fight and do anything she needed to do to protect her kids. She’d sacrifice her needs to provide for her sons. I know how she feels. I’ve felt the same thing.

Shortly after this exchange we came to the North American area. The two Alaskan brown bear cubs, now 3 years old, were enjoying their day too. They were chasing each other, smacking each other with their huge paws, and wrestling in their makeshift pond. We stood and watched them play for awhile. It was then I noticed the sign explaining how the zoo had acquired the bears, and where the irony of Lynn’s story hit me.

The cubs had been with their mother in Alaska when mama bear charged a man. The man shot at her and injured her. Later, two police officers shot and killed her as she was charging them. The 6-month-old baby bears were orphaned. The cubs were later rescued and transported to Ohio.

Mama Bear was just doing what mama bears do. She was just doing what human moms do. She was protecting her cubs. She would fight if she felt her cubs were being threatened. It’s unclear if there was a real threat, but apparently, she felt there was. She made the ultimate sacrifice for them.

The moral of the story is: Don’t mess with baby bear cubs and don’t mess with children. You’ll find out how fierce and assertive mamas of either species can be.

*names have been changed to protect the guilty

Link to RSS Feed for comments on this post