Private Ceremonies | Vela: I was changed in another way, too. The protective shield I so carefully constructed around myself, that kept me a safe distance from my patients, was compromised. Most of the time, I could retain my professionalism, but there were those rare days when I’d meet another Theresa, or, perhaps more difficult for me, a woman my age who, for what ever compelling reason, chose to abort a health pregnancy.
My job was to support a woman in whatever decision she felt was best for her, and I did. And there were times when I would go to the back parking lot, sit on the crumbling concrete steps, stare out at the extinct volcanoes, and bear quiet witness to all that has been lost.