WELLNESS
Sisters and Brothers, Inspiration and Wellbeing By Eileen T. O’Grady, PhD, RN, NP
Several years ago, my brother John and I realized that once we hit adulthood, we no longer spent any time alone together. We live on opposite coasts. When we see each other at family events, there are many other O’Gradys around, leaving no time to talk more deeply about our shared childhood, dreams, and concerns. So, we decided to take time from our respective families and careers for a sister-brother weekend.
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In January 2017, we met in California for a “Weekend with David Whyte.” As a poet, Whyte helps corporations have more soul. On the first day, John and I randomly sat at a big table for breakfast with a friendly guy named Eugene from South Africa. Eugene found it inspiring that John and I were brother and sister having a weekend together. He told us that he planned to ask his sister — whom he
Fall 2020 • Issue 3 • www.mypwh.org
adored but rarely got to see — to take a similar trip when he returned home. Two years later, a colleague and I were writing a book about how to put the CARE back into health care. We brought on a third author, a nursing professor, Minette from the University of Cape Town who knew a lot about caring science. We started holding monthly online meetings to keep the book moving. Not long ago, Minette asked if I would host a webinar on Extreme Self Care for
