My Easel Back ￼

That’s right, Michael Nelson, you’re an easel back. Hear me out… I’m talking about those long straight edge structures that protrude out from behind a picture frame. It may be the unpopular opinion, but the ‘easel back’ is quite frankly the most important piece. Without it, the beautiful image behind glass would simply fall flat on a surface. Like an easel back, Michael, you never seek the spotlight, yet you provide the constant and necessary support in order to let everyone else see the “full picture”.

You are the ultimate ‘supporter’; both at home and in your workplace you extend a helping hand to anyone without hesitation. You are the ‘easel back’ that props people up at just the right angle; the stability that those around you feel hinges directly on your extreme compassion. I had the unique opportunity to witness you be ‘𝘋𝘢𝘥, 𝘊𝘊𝘙𝘕 ’ to our Theodore. Dad first, but yes, ‘registered nurse’, too. Your compassion involved advocating clearly, reasoning with logic, and exercising extreme patience while constantly reassuring me in the most terrifying moments with our son. If you act in the workforce anything close to how you did with Theodore & I, it is absolutely no surprise that you are being honored as ‘Nurse of Distinction’.

Scouring downtown Buffalo tonight in order to find this billboard was such a fun family memory that I will never forget; a moment that deserved to be documented… Because when you go from ‘easel back’, to being ‘framed’ front and center on a billboard illuminated 50 feet high in the sky, I surely wasn’t going to let your humble self forget it! Simply put, I just love the crap out of you, Michael. #SoProudOfYou