The first two weeks of May bring together three occasions that seem different at first glance. One honors people who work in hospitals and clinics, another celebrates those who teach in our schools, and the third recognizes the first person many of us ever know.
But it’s no coincidence that Teacher Appreciation Week, Nurses Week, and Mother’s Day fall so close together. Each recognizes often—unheralded caregivers who hold together our families and communities.
Though their roles differ, nurses, teachers, and mothers all share a similar mission: They guide us, advocate for us, and keep us moving forward, especially when we’re most vulnerable, whether we’re sick, scared, or still figuring out who we are.
This stretch of the calendar is a good reminder of their influence on our lives. It’s also a prompt to carry that recognition and our gratitude well beyond it.
A nurse’s calling to care
In one of the first Celebrations Pulse letters, in the spring of 2020, I wrote about the critical role nurses played during the pandemic. They were working around the clock, helping patients and families navigate situations that were unfamiliar and overwhelming.
That level of care didn’t begin with the pandemic, and it didn’t end there. If anything, it has only grown more essential as our healthcare system has become more expensive and complex.
Nurses do more than care for patients. They shape the culture of every clinic, doctor’s office, and hospital they work in—and that culture has a direct effect on the care we receive.
I was once on the board of a major hospital trying to recruit one of the world’s leading gastroenterologists. He could have chosen any hospital in the New York area. He chose ours. When asked why, he pointed to the way the hospital treated its nurses and the way they understood their work as a calling rather than a job.
I thought about that recently during two routine appointments. The first office had every detail in place. The second was more modest. But it was there that the nurse took the time to ask a few extra questions and make sure I understood everything before I left. She made me feel like I wasn’t just the next name on the schedule.
Nothing about that visit was remarkable on paper. What stood out was the nurse’s attention and presence, which were choices she made repeatedly throughout the course of a long day. For me, it made all the difference in the world.
Teachers & lessons that last
When people think about who shaped their lives, a teacher often comes to mind. But it’s not just because of the material they covered, but how they approached the work.
I think often about a teacher I had at John Jay College, Dr. Blanche Cook. Her classroom required participation. You were expected to come prepared, form an opinion, and be ready to explain it. Silence was not a way to get through the class.
Sure, there were moments of discomfort in that process. Questions came without much warning. Assumptions were examined closely. It took effort to keep up.
Over time, though, that approach built the ability to think through an idea and revise it when needed. That’s a common thread among teachers who have a lasting influence: They create an environment where effort matters and where students begin to recognize their own capabilities.
As for Dr. Cook, I lost touch with her after graduation. But at a conference years later, her name came up in a conversation about great teachers. It turned out one of Dr. Cook’s closest friends was in the room. We reconnected and have stayed close for more than 20 years.
Teacher Appreciation Week is a great reason to reach out to the Dr. Cooks in your life.
Amazing Moms
If the qualities we admire in nurses and teachers feel familiar, it’s because most of us encountered them long before we had words for them. We saw them at home.
Mothers—and the motherly figures in our lives—are usually our first teachers and our first nurses. They show us how to get back up after a setback, how to stay patient when things don’t come easily, and how to care for someone without waiting to be thanked.
They make thousands of small decisions most of us never notice. Those decisions shape a household and the people within it.
Care has a starting point, and it’s with amazing nurses, teachers, and moms. When it’s given generously, it moves outward, shaping families and communities.
That’s reason enough to pause this month and honor the people who give care so freely. Not just with a week on the calendar, but with the recognition that what they do is among the most important work there is.
