Giving Back

Before I get into the "Giving Back" I have to explain the why.  Both Children's hospitals that our daughter has been to have a very important department called the child-life department. They are the people that keep your children and many times the parents from going crazy.
When Grace is in the hospital she's not normally "sick" acting regardless of how critically ill she has been. The child-life department staff do many things for the patients. They run a playroom and for kids like Grace that weren't allowed to leave their room, they bring the play portion right to their beds. Everything from movies, video games, board games, craft projects, Mother's day gifts to make, you name it they brought it. They also had a music lady that would bring her guitar or keyboard and sing for the patients, Grace was there so long that the music lady actually taught her a couple songs on the keyboard.
Not only do they provide the fun, they also assist in many other not so fun aspects of a hospital stay. They are available to accompany your children into surgery rooms to help them stay as calm as they can until they go under the anesthesia. They're there when they return to their rooms, they even explain what they'll see in the surgery room and what the procedures will entail. In our case Diana ( our go to gal ) even told Grace she was going to have to have a tracheotomy, as we were devastated and well, too chicken to break the news to Grace. I am sure there are many other jobs for the child-life department, many things that we have no clue about.
OK , back to the giving back portion of this long winded posting. My sister thought I should share how Grace gave back. When she was in 8th grade she was in the gifted program and needed a project to work on. After thinking for many days she decided she wanted to help the hospital, so naturally we thought of the child-life department. About six months before this she had spent a few days back at the hospital for a very difficult back surgery. Once again child-life was there to help. After making a couple of calls and having a meeting with them at the hospital, it was determined that a book to help siblings would be helpful for their department.
Many emails, pictures and rough drafts later, Grace had compiled a book for the staff to use to explain the rules for entering an ICU unit and what all those strange noises and machines were for. 
It turned out to be a great experience for Grace. Gave her the opportunity to come full circle and perhaps help someone else blessed enough to stay at this particular hospital and experience all the wonderful staff that had helped her so much.