Scott Simon, a radio host for NPR, spent much of the last week tweeting about his ailing mother's time in a hospital. He gained attention and support for his heartfelt tweets thanking nurses and as his mother's health worsened.
I just want to say that ICU nurses are remarkable people. Thank you for what you do for our loved ones.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I just want to say that ICU nurses are remarkable people. Thank you for what you do for our loved ones.
My mother in ICU sees Kate & Will holding baby and tears: "Every baby boy is a little king to his parents. " So I tear too.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
My mother in ICU sees Kate & Will holding baby and tears: "Every baby boy is a little king to his parents. " So I tear too.
Bless all ICU nurses who are getting people through pain & anxieties tonight.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Bless all ICU nurses who are getting people through pain & anxieties tonight.
Thanks for prayers my mother in ICU. She greeted the woman who picks up trash: "Blanca, you herald a new day." Class.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Thanks for prayers my mother in ICU. She greeted the woman who picks up trash: "Blanca, you herald a new day." Class.
I am getting a life's lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU. We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I am getting a life's lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU. We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?
My mother knows the name & story of every nurse & doctor in the ICU. She keeps no one a stranger.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
My mother knows the name & story of every nurse & doctor in the ICU. She keeps no one a stranger.
My mother & I just sang Que Sera Sera 3 times. God bless you Doris Day for giving us such a great theme song.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
My mother & I just sang Que Sera Sera 3 times. God bless you Doris Day for giving us such a great theme song.
Tried to buy coffee for family w/ a mother in ICU too. Barista overheard, refused my card. "Your money's no good here."
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Tried to buy coffee for family w/ a mother in ICU too. Barista overheard, refused my card. "Your money's no good here."
I consider this a good sign: mother sez when time comes, obit headline should be Three Jewish Husbands, But No Guilt.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I consider this a good sign: mother sez when time comes, obit headline should be Three Jewish Husbands, But No Guilt.
My mother drifts to sleep listening to Nat's Unforgettable. I keep things light, but moments like this hard, if sweet.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
My mother drifts to sleep listening to Nat's Unforgettable. I keep things light, but moments like this hard, if sweet.
Thanks for all good wishes. Mother says, "We can get through this, baby. The hardest part we'll be for you when it's over"
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Thanks for all good wishes. Mother says, "We can get through this, baby. The hardest part we'll be for you when it's over"
Nights are the hardest. But that's why I'm here. I wish I could lift my mother's pain & fears from her bones into mine.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Nights are the hardest. But that's why I'm here. I wish I could lift my mother's pain & fears from her bones into mine.
No real sleep tonight. But songs poems memories laughs. My mother: "Thank you God for giving us this night & each other"
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
No real sleep tonight. But songs poems memories laughs. My mother: "Thank you God for giving us this night & each other"
Mother: what time is it? Me: 6:30. Her: oh let's raise the curtains on the city we love.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Mother: what time is it? Me: 6:30. Her: oh let's raise the curtains on the city we love.
Thanks for all kind messages. We're watching 42 (movie), cherishing every second of normalcy. Cherish yr mother tonight too.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Thanks for all kind messages. We're watching 42 (movie), cherishing every second of normalcy. Cherish yr mother tonight too.
I don't know how we'll get through these next few days. And, I don't want them to end.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I don't know how we'll get through these next few days. And, I don't want them to end.
Mother asks, "Will this go on forever?" She means pain, dread. "No." She says, "But we'll go on forever. You & me." Yes.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Mother asks, "Will this go on forever?" She means pain, dread. "No." She says, "But we'll go on forever. You & me." Yes.
If we only truly realized how little time we have..,
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
If we only truly realized how little time we have..,
By request, my ICU bed. Hermes orange, my mother notes. Note functional nightstand, too:
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
By request, my ICU bed. Hermes orange, my mother notes. Note functional nightstand, too:
City is cool, bright, & lovely this morning. My mother touches a splash of sunlight w/ her fingers. "Hello, Chicago!"
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
City is cool, bright, & lovely this morning. My mother touches a splash of sunlight w/ her fingers. "Hello, Chicago!"
I am not sure my mother understands Twitter or why I tell her millions of people love her--but she says she's ver touched.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I am not sure my mother understands Twitter or why I tell her millions of people love her--but she says she's ver touched.
I think she wants me to pass along a couple of pieces of advice, ASAP. One: reach out to someone who seems lonely today.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I think she wants me to pass along a couple of pieces of advice, ASAP. One: reach out to someone who seems lonely today.
And: listen to people in their 80's. They have looked across the street at death for a decade. They know what's vital.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
And: listen to people in their 80's. They have looked across the street at death for a decade. They know what's vital.
Oh, and: Oh earth, you're too wonderful for anyone to realize you. It goes too quickly.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Oh, and: Oh earth, you're too wonderful for anyone to realize you. It goes too quickly.
Journos who say they're hard-boiled cause they see so much should know ICU nurses see more in a week. And come out kind.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Journos who say they're hard-boiled cause they see so much should know ICU nurses see more in a week. And come out kind.
My mother now wakes only to be gracious. "Is Reggie or Don on-duty? They're both such exquisite gentlemen." (and they are)
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
My mother now wakes only to be gracious. "Is Reggie or Don on-duty? They're both such exquisite gentlemen." (and they are)
I love holding my mother's hand. Haven't held it like this since I was 9. Why did I stop? I thought it unmanly? What crap.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I love holding my mother's hand. Haven't held it like this since I was 9. Why did I stop? I thought it unmanly? What crap.
Thought that my mother won't get another glimpse of the city she loves is unbearable. My wife, from France, points out--
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Thought that my mother won't get another glimpse of the city she loves is unbearable. My wife, from France, points out--
"She is seeing Chicago in the faces of the loving, tough, & kind souls working so hard for her in the ICU." She's right.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
"She is seeing Chicago in the faces of the loving, tough, & kind souls working so hard for her in the ICU." She's right.
Mother cries Help Me at 2;30. Been holding her like a baby since. She's asleep now. All I can do is hold on to her.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Mother cries Help Me at 2;30. Been holding her like a baby since. She's asleep now. All I can do is hold on to her.
Can't hold my mother like a baby indefinitely--have to use the bathroom. My wife coming over w/ my mother's husband.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Can't hold my mother like a baby indefinitely--have to use the bathroom. My wife coming over w/ my mother's husband.
Her passing might come any moment, or in an hour, or not for a day. Nurses saying hearing is last sense to go so I sing & joke.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Her passing might come any moment, or in an hour, or not for a day. Nurses saying hearing is last sense to go so I sing & joke.
When she asked for my help last night, we locked eyes. She calmed down. A look of love that surpasses understanding.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
When she asked for my help last night, we locked eyes. She calmed down. A look of love that surpasses understanding.
The loveli cityscape at the foot of my mother's bed:
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
The loveli cityscape at the foot of my mother's bed:
I know end might be near as this is only day of my adulthood I've seen my mother and she hasn't asked, "Why that shirt?"
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
I know end might be near as this is only day of my adulthood I've seen my mother and she hasn't asked, "Why that shirt?"
Heart rate dropping. Heart dropping.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Heart rate dropping. Heart dropping.
The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
The heavens over Chicago have opened and Patricia Lyons Simon Newman has stepped onstage.
She will make the face of heaven shine so fine that all the world will be in love with night.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
She will make the face of heaven shine so fine that all the world will be in love with night.
Thank you for all yr warm wishes and prayers. Such love drives the world.
Scott Simon
@nprscottsimon
Thank you for all yr warm wishes and prayers. Such love drives the world.
In 2008, Simon did an extended interview with his mother on NPR.