Bullwinkle in a gift shop
Anonymous gift snuggles into young parents’ hearts
In a rare break from tending their little one in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, the young stress-weary parents browsed the gift shop at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center-RiverBend in Springfield, Oregon.
A stuffed moose caught their eye.
The moose held special meaning as it was the nickname for their new babe. Not having funds to buy the toy, they left without it—warmed only by the joy of seeing it, but not keeping it.
Two nurses from PeaceHealth Sacred Heart happened to be within earshot and overheard the couple’s exclamations over the little moose.
Surreptitiously, they chipped in to buy the cuddly toy for this young family. They personally delivered it to Lisa Quezada, nurse manager of the pediatric unit, giving her strict orders to keep mum about how the moose came to arrive.
Tears sprang to the eyes of the young parents when Quezada presented the snuggly stuffed animal. Such a thoughtful anonymous act deeply touched them and will likely become part of their family’s lore for years to come.
