Hospitals are as similar as they are different.

My beloved bride underwent foot surgery today at Williamson Medical Center. We arrived, Kaye changed, and was rolled away to surgery. I sat down in her day surgery room, grabbed my computer for a little work, and then it hit me.

I am in a hospital.

Mom spent more than three weeks at Huntsville Hospital. I became familiar with waiting rooms, faces, and nurses’ personalities. I also became familiar with the odors and paint color palette.

Many memories returned. Some made me smile. Some made me cringe. All made me thankful for doctors, nurses, LPNs, cleaning crews, orderlies, office personnel, and everyone else who draws their salaries from a hospital.

For all the rhetoric about health care, for all the headlines about new research, for all the commercials about pharmaceuticals, we sometimes forget how amazing these people are.

If you find yourself in a hospital, look around and count the number of people who are involved in your care. Then thank God.