WHO: Jeff Gross, facilities technician at WellSpan York Hospital. (Jeff has worked for WellSpan for 43 years, since he was in the 10th grade!)
WHAT: Last month, Jeff got on the elevator at WellSpan York Hospital, joining an older woman who looked like she was going to cry. He asked he if there was anything he could do for her, and she said, “No thank you.” Suddenly, she burst into tears and shared that she had just lost her husband.
Jeff said, “Can I do something for you?”
She said, “I just need to leave.”
Jeff said he would walk her out of the hospital. As they were walking, the woman reached out and grabbed Jeff’s hand. The two held hands until she got to the exit door, where they parted as Jeff told the woman he hoped things got better for her.
WORDS TO LIVE BY: “I think for that moment and that day, it made nothing else really important except the people that you love. It put into place for me what is important.
That experience really hit home. l went home that day and told my wife, ‘We need to slow down and enjoy life.’ I hugged her and told her, ‘We need to smell the roses.’
And we have to take care of each other. You gotta help people. We need to do that. If everyone did that every day, it would make a nice world, wouldn’t it?”
