Most of my blogs center on my memories and the oftentimes humorous situations in which I have found myself. I certainly don’t mean to suggest all memories are happy and funny. They aren’t. But that isn’t to say all memories don’t have value.

My wife works at Orlando Health. Its downtown Orlando hospital, ORMC, is located a few blocks from the Pulse nightclub. On June 12, 2016 ORMC unexpectedly received multiple gunshot victims following a horrific terrorist attack. As Corporate Director of Internal Communications, my wife was called into their Incident Command center that morning. I didn’t see her for another 24 hours as she and her team worked through the day and night to manage their part in an inconceivable and heartrending situation.

I will not attempt to describe the details of their contributions or the experiences of any who were involved in this incident by trying to blog specifics about it. I wasn’t there. The sole purpose of including this as part of Memories Matter is because memories do matter. And the more we share them, the more we are enriched.

Orlando Health has recently released a series of first hand observations of what people saw, how they felt, and how they managed to cope during this difficult crisis. I am so proud that my wife was able to tell her story as a part of this process but I am equally proud of all the other stories that stand with hers in this compilation. Orlando, as a community, should be thankful for the healthcare professionals that stand ready to assist them… even in the worst of situations.

I offer this link for any who would like to know more about how these healthcare professionals were able to handle a nightmarish situation. These first hand experiences about what transpired in those terrible moments help to explain how human spirit was able to rise above the darkness. God bless Orlando Health and all who give of their time, energy, spirit, and expertise to provide care for our community.

To read these first hand accounts, follow this link:

https://www.orlandohealth.com/campaigns/g6iv8jkzop719

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio of Mount Dora specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio cassettes, photos, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.