Benefits of Hospitalization

I have written here before of the serious illness my son fought when he was in 8th grade, and how the rehabilitation hospital that he was subsequently admitted to helped him immeasurably (www.franciscanhospital.org). He and I participated in a fund-raiser radiothon for Franciscan Hospital last year.

When he was asked what the best thing about being in the hospital was, he truthfully answered “Meeting Tim Wakefield.” I had posted right here that the best thing (for me) was the fact that they sent him home stronger and more socially in tune then he was before he got sick. However, let’s face it: is there really any good thing (much less “best thing”) about being in a hospital in the eyes of the person who went through it?

This hospital treats its patients and former patients like an extended family. Over the years, administrators have called to offer my son tickets to various sporting events. Once when my son was out of town, I replied that I would be happy to use the baseball tickets they were offering – but such offers are for the “alumni” only.

So it happened that today my son got an email from Franciscan with an offer of two tickets for tonight’s hockey game. Now the rubber meets the road. He has accepted the tickets, and offered the second to his roommate. So let’s see how well he will manage getting the train or bus schedule to and from the game, socializing through three periods with his roommate (although I would guess there would not be too much of that during the game), and arranging how or where to pick up the tickets!