Breyette Lorntz
A note for my care team
I’m a mother, mediator, and teacher who loves to tend — to stories, to gardens, to the people around me.
- As a professional mediator, I help people find their way through conflict for a living
- Formerly an Assistant Professor of Infectious Disease at UVA
- Master Naturalist and Charlottesville-area tree steward
- Quaker, living in Waynesboro, Virginia
- At home: my children, knitting, spinning yarn, farm-to-table cooking, maybe too many plants, my dogs and cats, and my Beau
I wanted you to know a little of that — not just the version of me in this bed.
Thank you for being part of my care today.
If you’re reading this, you were one of the people who helped me through an important day in my life.
I wanted to say thank you not only to you, but also to the people whose lives and work made your presence here possible.
To the teachers who taught you.
To the mentors who guided you.
To the colleagues who sharpened your skills.
To the family, partners, friends, and loved ones who support you, make room for the demands of your work, and help you keep showing up.
Their care reaches farther than they may ever know.
Today, some of it reached me.
I am grateful for the years of learning, sacrifice, practice, support, and ordinary acts of love that brought you into this room and into my care.
Thank you for helping me get through this day and on to healing.
— Breyette
To read:
John O’Donohue, “Blessing of Your Work” — read it here
To listen:
Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey, “When You Believe” — listen here
For today: may you receive some of the care you give away.