I remember when he arrived at the Pediatric Neurology ward as an Intensive Care resident, with that confidence that is sometimes mistaken for arrogance. His opinions were firm, his pace was fast, and in my stubbornness as a neurologist with several years at the hospital, I quickly labeled him as conceited and cold.
I was wrong. The change was not dramatic, but gentle, as he began to coincide with me at the end of our shifts. During those walks, the mask of the hurried intensivist fell away. We talked about the fragility of a newborn's brain, yes, but also about the latest book he had devoured, about a silly movie, about the song he couldn't get out of his head.
I discovered then, a kindred spirit. Without anyone asking, he became an attendee at my literary gatherings, where my shy poet's soul comes out to breathe. There he was, among the crowd, nodding with a smile. He would invite me for coffee afterwards, and at the small table in the corner cafรฉ, the world felt lighter.
And one day, in an unexpected turn, he invited me for a caipirinha. "It's your favorite drink, isn't it?" he said. I didn't remember mentioning it, and in that moment I knew that this person, whom I had judged so harshly at first, had been listening, really listening, not just to my medical words, but to the others, the ones that outline who you are.
Our friendship was also cemented in shared silences, in those difficult moments when words are unnecessary, and when a case became complicated, he would appear, not with speeches, but with his presence, becoming a life preserver thrown into the turbulent sea of my days.
He no longer works at the same hospital. Life has taken him down other hallways, but his friendship knows no walls of concrete. Every so often, my phone lights up with a message from him. Without fail, that small, constant gesture makes my day happy and saves me, over and over again.
This experience taught me, as a doctor and as a person, the profound lesson of suspending judgment. I found no better opportunity than this to tell the story, thanks to the beautiful question posed by 
To him, to my friend from the wrong beginning, I say thank you for the walks, for the coffee, for the caipirinha, for the applauded verses, but above all, thank you for being that wonderful person who, from the closest possible distance, reminds me that the most valuable human essence is often discovered after the first, very deceptive, page.
โจ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐! โจ
๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐ฐโ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐
๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, 100% ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐
๐ (๐๐ ๐จ๐ฐ).
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐.
๐ณ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐? ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐
VERSIรN EN ESPAรOL
Amigos que comenzaron con el pie izquierdo
Recuerdo que llegรณ a la sala de Neurologรญa Pediรกtrica como residente de Terapia Intensiva, con esa seguridad que a veces se confunde con arrogancia. Sus opiniones eran tajantes, su ritmo era rรกpido, y yo, en mi terquedad de neurรณloga ya con algunos aรฑos en el hospital, lo etiquetรฉ rรกpido como engreรญdo y frรญo.
Yo estaba equivocada. El cambio no fue dramรกtico, sino suave, pues empezรณ a coincidir conmigo a la salida. En esas caminatas la mรกscara del intensivista apresurado se cayรณ. Hablรกbamos de la fragilidad de un cerebro reciรฉn nacido, sรญ, pero tambiรฉn del รบltimo libro que habรญa devorado, de una pelรญcula absurda, de la canciรณn que no se le salรญa de la cabeza.
Descubrรญ entonces a un cรณmplice. รl fue, sin que nadie se lo pidiera, pรบblico en mis peรฑas literarias, donde mi alma de poeta tรญmida sale a respirar. Allรญ estaba, entre el gentรญo, asintiendo con una sonrisa. Me invitaba a un cafรฉ despuรฉs y, en la mesa pequeรฑa de la cafeterรญa de la esquina, el mundo se hacรญa mรกs liviano.
Y un dรญa, en un giro inesperado, me invitรณ a tomar una caipirinha. "Es tu bebida preferida, ยฟno?", dijo. Yo no recordaba haberlo mencionado, y ahรญ supe que esta persona, a quien yo habรญa juzgado tan duramente al inicio, estaba escuchando, realmente escuchando, no solo mis palabras mรฉdicas, sino las otras, las que delinean quiรฉn eres.
La amistad se consolidรณ en silencios compartidos tambiรฉn, en esos momentos malos donde las palabras sobran, y cuando un caso se complicaba, รฉl aparecรญa. No con discursos, sino con presencia. Se convertรญa en un salvavidas lanzado al mar agitado de mis dรญas.
En la actualidad ya no trabaja en el mismo hospital. La vida lo llevรณ por otros pasillos, pero su amistad no tiene fronteras de cemento. Cada tanto, mi telรฉfono se ilumina con un mensaje suyo. Sin falta, ese gesto mรญnimo y constante me hace feliz el dรญa y me salva, una y otra vez.
Esta experiencia me enseรฑรณ, como mรฉdica y como persona, la profunda lecciรณn de suspender el juicio. No encontrรฉ mejor oportunidad que esta para contarlo, gracias a la hermosa pregunta que nos hace
A รฉl, a mi amigo del comienzo equivocado, le digo gracias por las caminatas, por el cafรฉ, por la caipirinha, por los versos aplaudidos, pero sobre todo, gracias por ser esa linda personita que, desde la distancia mรกs cercana posible, me recuerda que la esencia humana mรกs valiosa a menudo se descubre despuรฉs de la primera y muy engaรฑosa pรกgina.
โจยก๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐! โจ
๐บ๐ ๐รบ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐รณ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐
๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐รฑ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐รณ ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐รก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐
๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐รญ๐, 100% ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐จ).
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐รฑ๐๐
๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐.
ยฟ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐๐รณ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐รณ๐? ๐ฝ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.๐