Each spring the residents at Floating Hospital hold a memorial service to honor the young patients that died over the preceding twelve months. It was our burden and our privilege to attend the service this year. As we sat there, we felt that we had some insights to offer these doctors-in-training. Our primary objective was to help the residents understand our experiences as parents and caregivers. Equally important, we wanted to help the residents explore their own experiences and emotions when dealing with terminally ill children. The residents were kind enough to accept our offer to be included in one of their weekly seminars.

Before meeting with the residents, we issued an invitation to other parents on various Internet mail groups to broaden the exchange beyond our own insights. What would other parents have liked to tell the residents that cared for their children? What do residents need to understand when a terminally ill child falls under their care? We are grateful to all of the parents who submitted articles.

I should point out that our desire to speak with the residents at Floating Hospital was a result of the excellence in the way they treated our daughter, not the opposite. During the last months of her life, our daughter spent a great deal of time in the hospital. During that time we got to know many of the medical residents and gained an appreciation for the challenges they face in their training. They were knowledgeable, professional and caring. The experiences that we had in the hospital made a world of difference in our ability to cope with the terminal nature or our daughter's disease. This section of the web site is dedicated to them. We hope that it will benefit them and all residents who find their way here.