Address to the Soroptimist Club of Indianapolis, by Miss Leigh Hightower

Before reading this essay and seeing the accompanying photograph from the Indianapolis Star, I had never heard of the Soroptimists ("sister Optimists"). I have since learned that the Soroptimist Club of Indianapolis provided a scholarship paying largely for my mother's training as a nurse, 1957-1960.

Here is the text of an address she gave before the Club as part of her acknowledgment of their generosity. I have no information about when the speech was delivered:


Just as vividly as every small boy visualizes himself clinging to the rear of a racing, clanging firetruck, donned helmet and hatchet in hand; most little girls see themselves as nurses..... angels of mercy with light brisk steps and perpetual smiles. This dream had a part in my imaginative child-play too, but it wasn't until I was a high-school senior that a tiny baby helped me decide to become a nurse.

As I sat, night after night, beside the hospital crib of this baby, watching the nurses come and go, as guardians of the night, it seemed as if God said to me, "Leigh, you too will become a nurse." From that moment, my childhood dream began to form again. It remained with me for the next three years..... at times growing very dim, often fading almost completely from view. However, in the back of my mind there remained the memory of my promise to God, made at the bedside of my baby sister.

Upon entering nursing school, I began to fulfill that promise, and my dream has grown. I have found three words that are to me symbolic of a good nurse. They were first spoken by St. Paul, when he said, "And now abideth faith, hope, love; these three, but the greatest of these is love."

What relation do these words have for the nurse: This faith of which I speak is a complete confidence. It is faith in the medical profession.... that those who work beside you are giving their best through their knowledge to every patient. Faith in your hospital.... that inside its quiet walls new life is being created, broken bodies are being mended, and tortured minds assuaged. Faith in yourself.... that when first you felt the lightness of the cap upon your head, held high your hand, and repeated the words of the Nightingale Pledge, you did so with a heart that was sincere, hands that were capable, and a mind emotionally mature. Most important of all is faith in God..... faith that, as you walk on your ward, HE WALKS BESIDE YOU; as you speak, He speaks through you; and as you lift a glass of water to thirsty lips, you realize the meaning of "As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

Secondly, there is hope... a belief obtainable. Keeping a clear mind when all about you confusion reigns; teaching the amputee that he can walk again; blinking back tears to whisper, "Rest in Peace," as you close eyes that no longer see. Then, too, it is smiling into the pink dawn of a new day after a busy night of duty.

In the last analysis, above everything else, a nurse must have a love for people, for in nursing she fulfills Christ's command, "Love ye one another." Love is evident in the whole life of a good nurse for love influences her whole manner of living. This love is not easily possessed. It cannot be taught in a classroom or demonstrated in a laboratory. It cannot be imitated, for imitation is a copy and love is genuine and honest..... recognizing the needs of the whole person, and not merely those of a broken body. It means giving more than is demanded... an extra smile of assurance or pat on a wrinkled hand; melting to the pleading eyes of an ailing child, keeping vigil while he is sinking, and crying yourself to sleep when he is taken away. Faith, Hope, and Love are to me the very heart of nursing.

In my limited experience thus far, I have no regret about the choice that I made, and if I were to choose again, without a doubt I would still select nursing because it is here that I may always keep my fingertips on the pulse of humanity.