Good Evening TXK
In late July 2024, I stood in a room surrounded by the people who loved my pop the most. The love of Granny’s life left this world the way most of us can only hope we someday will: held, prayed over, and deeply, deeply loved. Standing over Pop’s body, through tears, my granny remarked, “How blessed are we?”
In the middle of that morning’s peaceful scene stood Blair Lloyd, a Heritage Home Health and Hospice nurse I admire.
If you have ever experienced hospice, you already know that nurses don’t just show up with medical charts and medications. They show up ready to give of themselves, their time, their energy, their patience, and their heart. Blair Lloyd is funny in a way that sneaks up on you, with the driest sense of humor of anyone I have ever met. But more than that, she carries a kind of compassion that brings so much comfort—the kind of presence that makes you feel like everything is going to be okay, even when you know it won’t be.
May is National Nurses Month, and it’s nurses like Blair who truly deserve the spotlight. She’s been a nurse for six years, starting in the hospital before finding her way into hospice, and like far too many nurses, she knows what it feels like to be underappreciated—to give everything you have and still feel like it’s not fully seen. In a hospital, everything moves fast. Patients come and go, and there is rarely time to truly know the people you are caring for. But in hospice, the pace slows, the walls come down, and you are not just caring for a patient; you are walking alongside a family in one of the most vulnerable seasons of their lives.
Blair still thinks about my granny, standing in her housecoat at 3:00 a.m., thanking her and apologizing for not being “put together” in the moments shortly before Pop’s time to leave this earth. That so perfectly describes Granny: gracious, a little flustered, and wanting to present her best, even in the middle of devastating heartbreak. And Blair met her right there, without judgment or pretense, just a steady presence. Hospice nursing isn’t just clinical. It’s nervous conversations with family at odd hours, and quiet reassurances. It is a nurse literally stepping into a family’s story and becoming a part of it.
To this day, my granny still texts Blair “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year,” and I don’t think there’s a better way to explain the bond that hospice care creates. They are lasting bonds that are built in the quiet, in-between moments. Nurses are right there in it with you, not above you or separate from you, but with you.
If you are a nurse reading this, I know firsthand through my experience with Blair’s beautiful heart for my family that what you do matters more than you will ever realize. Even on those days with families who don’t appreciate what you do, when it feels routine and mundane, on the days when no one says “thank you,” and on the days when you drive home exhausted, wondering if you gave enough, you did. You do. People carry what you give them far longer than you will ever know.
It is one of the greatest privileges of my life that someone like Blair, someone I love, respect, and now consider family, was the one standing in that room with us. She helped guide my pop home with a level of care and compassion that will forever be unmatched. But this isn’t just one story, one nurse, and one family I’m wanting to highlight. This speaks to something so much bigger. I believe the most meaningful work in the world doesn’t come with recognition or applause. It happens quietly, in the early hours of the morning, standing in the kitchen with a woman in her housecoat—no makeup and unfixed hair—while her husband takes his final breaths in the room next to them. Thank God there’s a nurse standing right in the middle of that space, holding not just the patient, but their whole family, and making all the difference.
TXK BOOK CLUB
May Recommendation
Book
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Genre
Literary Fiction
RATING
SYNOPSIS
In The Correspondent, Virginia Evans crafts an intimate and deeply moving portrait of a life told through letters.
The novel follows Sybil Van Antwerp, a sharp-witted woman in her seventies whose lifelong habit of correspondence becomes a window into her past, revealing love, loss, regrets, and long-buried secrets. As her letters unfold, readers piece together the complexities of her relationships and the choices that shaped her, discovering that even the smallest connections can carry profound meaning.
Thoughtful, quietly powerful, and rich with emotional insight, this beautiful novel is a celebration of memory, forgiveness, and the enduring power of human connection
Reader’s Take
“I loved reading The Correspondent by Virginia Evans because it reminded me how meaningful real, personal communication can be. The way the story unfolds through letters feels so intimate and genuine, like getting a glimpse into someone’s heart in a way that texts or emails just can’t match. It made me slow down and appreciate the beauty of thoughtful words, and it honestly inspired me to start writing handwritten letters to people in my own life. There’s something so special about putting pen to paper, and this book brought that feeling back to life for me.”
—Stephanie Yowel
FACES & PLACES
MAY
May 1
Dinosaur World Live
Hempstead Hall
7 pm
May 1
Mental Health Update TAMU-T, Eagle Hall
8 am-5 pm
May 2
Walk for Life 5K
Spring Lake Park
7 am-12 pm
May 2
11th Annual Twice as Fine Texarkana Wine Festival
Spring Lake Park
11 am-6 pm
May 3
TRAHC Student Juried Exhibition Reception
1:00 pm
May 6
Women in Business
The Primary Court Event Center
10:30 am-3 pm
May 7
Haven Homes Celebration
Texarkana Arkansas Convention Center
6 pm
May 7
Annual Health and Wellness Fair
Southwest Center
10 am-2 pm
May 8
Downtown Live!
Downtown Texarkana
6-9 pm
May 9
Taco Festival
Downtown Festival Plaza
11 am-6 pm
May 16
Give Back Basketball Game
TAMU-T Patterson Center
3:00 pm
May 16
Veterans Information Fair
Texas Elks Lodge
8:30 am-12:30 pm
May 21
LNK TXK Golf Tournament
New Haven Golf Club
12 pm
May 21
Chamber Business After Hours
Texana Bank-Richmond Road
4:30-6:30 pm
May 25
Memorial Day Service
Hillcrest Memorial Park
2 pm
May 26
Arkansas Elite Barrel Racing Finals
Four States Fairgrounds
May 26-29
TRAHC Art Wall Camp
Texarkana Regional Arts Center
May 30
Red Shield Youth Centers: Hope RUSH Duck “FUN” Raiser
Big Dam Waterpark
10:30 am-4 pm
May 30
Billy Gardell Live
Texarkana Texas Convention Center
7 pm
May 30
Run for Her-Grace House 5k
Spring Lake Park
8 am
May 29 & 30
24 Hour Musical
Silvermoon Theatre
