Without further ado, I do

want to introduce
Phil George.

Now, as you were
coming in through the

lobby, there are some
illustrations, or

as he prefers,
sketches, out there. And

those are his. He's
a wonderful artist.

And if you haven't
had the time to

check them out,
please do before you

leave. They're a big
part of his story.

I also want to mention
that he will be

retiring in July. So
we're very, very glad

that he's with us
tonight. and he decided

to do the question
what is your

controversial mundane
opinion and he said I

don't really care for
Chick-fil-a and what's

even funnier actually
is that I emailed

everybody and I
requested answers from

them and he emailed
me back and said I

do not care for Chick
-fil-a so you really

know he doesn't care
for Chick-fil-A.

Here's Phil. I

saw Steve Martin do that.

I really wanted
to try it.

I'm happy to be here.
I'm glad I broke the

tension. I did it
for those people back

there because we're
all feeling it and I'm

happy to have the
chance to tell my story.

I worked 30 years
in the manufacturing

of food and when
I had the chance

to come and work
for the university

in the kitchen at
Nutrition Care Kitchen,

there was a lot
of similarities.

We didn't do like a
production that went

to supermarkets. We
did food that went

to patients. And the
difference, the biggest

difference was the
customer. The nameless

person in a supermarket
picking up a

half gallon of ice
cream I produced is

different than going
to a patient room.

And I thought I'd be
okay with it. But I

found on the second
day I was here, I was

with one of our patient
representatives,

and she was
getting the meal

orders for the next meal.

And we were in an ICU
unit, and the patient

had a lot of things
hooked up to them, and

they also had a trach.
And in order for

her to speak what she
wanted for breakfast,

she had to put
her finger over

the trach so she
could be heard.

And I was
concentrating very hard

on what was being
said and how this

worked, and I
wanted to be

understanding this,
this was new to me.

And the patient's
husband spoke up

and said, hey,
Lisa, that was the

rep, what's the
matter with Phil?

Why don't he smile?

And that really
hit me hard because

I like to smile.
I'm always

smiling. I'm a
pretty happy guy.

And I really thought
you can't go into

a patient's room and
not have a smile on

your face. That became
number one thing

I had to do. If I
went into a patient's

room, I had to have
a smile on my face.

and a little while after
that I was delivering

some pancakes I used
to run late trays

in the morning and I
looked at the ticket

and I knew the name
on the ticket it was

somebody from my
past somebody really

important to our family
and I wondered if it

was this the name was
the same if it was

the same person and
when I went into the

room he looked at me
and it was the same

person he said we know
who that is we know

who that is and he
said to his son what's

his name and his His
son didn't know who

I was, looked at my
name tag and said,

that's Phil. He goes,
that's right, that's

Phil. That's Phil.
Okay, we know who he is.

And I had such
a desire to do

something more
for this person

than just give
him pancakes.

I couldn't figure
out what that was,

but I would have
done anything to make

him more comfortable.
I could do that.

And when I was walking
away from the room,

I started thinking
about all the other

patient rooms I have
a chance to go into.

and I thought you
know everybody's

just is somebody that I

know I just haven't
met them yet

and it made me think
about that movie up

and the dog Doug in
the movie could speak

and when he met Carl
he said I just met

you and I love you and
I decided that that's

what I needed to do
when I entered into

a patient's room I
had to say to myself

I just met you and I
love you and uh that

was a really good
way to be. I tried to

use humor. I tried
to make people smile.

I tried to make them
laugh if possible.

Sometimes it's not
possible to do that

in the hospital,
but usually I could.

Usually I could make
their day a little

bit brighter, and
it felt really

good. It felt like
something that I

would have done
without getting paid,

and yet I was getting
paid to do that.

And when the opportunity
to go work at the

Nelson Rehab hospital
came and I could

leave a kitchen that
served 350 patients

and go to one that
served between 50 and

60 patients I jumped
at that chance to get

a more relaxed
atmosphere and the thing

about the rehab
hospital is people don't

come for a few days
they usually come for

a few months and
they're there for a long

time and you get to
know them and when we

were shorthanded
during the pandemic, I

was actually doing
my job as supervisor

and the job of a patient
rep. So I was going

up to the rooms
every day and getting

patients' orders and
getting to know them.

And there was a lot of
joy in making friendships

and stuff, a lot of
really good feelings

and a lot of love
that I felt for the

patients. There was one
16-year-old girl who

would beam a big smile
at me every time i went

in she knew i was
going to say something

funny but her smile to
me was the greatest part

of my day and on an
occasion i was walking

at taylorsville day
and stepped into

irrigation hole and fell
i tweaked my back and i

was having a really
bad day with my back a

couple days later and
when i went into her

room and she beamed at
me that smile it healed

me my back was better
and I noticed that

she was filling out
thank you cards for the

staff and I thought oh
no you don't I'm going

to go make you a thank
you card first so I

ran downstairs I had
some flare pins in my

desk and we had these
beautiful orchids in

the cafe and I drew
the orchids and I wrote

her a thank you note
and I ran up and gave it

to her before she
could give me mine and

told her thank you for
everything she's done

for me and she of
course didn't understand

what she'd done but I
felt really good about

that and I started
thinking about that and

when patients would go
home and I was going

to miss them but I
wanted them to go home I

thought you know what
I could do I could draw

a picture for the
patients and give it to

them on their last
day and tell them that

that's how they're going
to remember me and we

had this one very large
patient from Montana

who never married he
had a lot of nephews

and nieces that would
come and visit him and

he was a big outdoor
types but he was

paralyzed from the neck
down and it was a struggle

and i had long
conversations with him every

day and uh we we
like to talk and uh i

could make him smile
and laugh and it was a

good thing and i thought
i'm going to draw a

picture of a buck and
i uh i drew the picture

and on his the day
before he went home i

took it and showed him
and i said uncle i drew

this picture for you
you take it home and

hang it on your wall
and every time you look

at it you have to
remember me and that way

you can remember me
and he looked so angry

and so offended and I
thought oh my gosh what

have I done and I
said uncle what's the

matter and he said
nobody's ever done anything

like that for me ever
in my whole life and

I knew I was on to
something I knew it was

a good thing so I
started drawing a lot of

sketches for patients
and it was not always a

good a good thing but
usually was we had a

little 16 year old patient
who had hurt himself

in a trampoline
accident and he was from

Reno and his mother
was single and was

working two jobs trying
to raise a family so she

couldn't be there with
him so he was all by

himself in the room
and he was mired in the

fact of all the things
that he wanted to

do in his life that he
wouldn't be able to do

so for him i drew a
picture of the iron

giant and i put his
head on the iron giant

instead of the iron
giant's head and i told him

i said you're young
go to school become an

engineer figure out a
way to make a body or

to make a brace that
will allow you to do

some of the things that
you don't think you'll

be able to do and i
don't know if i if my

message got to him or
not but i know i i love

this kid i went into
his room one day and

he'd slipped out of
his wheelchair and his

arms were dangling on
the ground and I was

horrified I didn't dare
touch him I called for

a nurse who just come
and nonchalantly put

him back in his chair
and in my journal I

was so filled with rage
about him being alone

that I decided if I
could I would quit my

job and I would put
myself in the chair by

his bed and be there
because he needed support

and just sometimes
they just don't have it

and sometimes is sad
but I drew that picture

for him I had a patient
that was a librarian

and I decided I'm going
to draw an owl for

the librarian she had
cats I was going to

draw a cat I thought
I'll draw an owl and I

came up and she was
just getting ready to

leave for therapy but
I gave her the picture

and I said I'll talk
to you a little later

after your therapy and
she looked at me like

with like surprised with
shock at the picture

I gave her and a little
later I was in the

elevator and this
therapist that was there

the therapists are
kind of mean she pushed

me up against the wall
and she said why did

you pick an owl for her
what made you decide

to draw an owl for her
and I said I don't know

librarian owl you know
and uh when I went

to see the patient
later she told me the

story that the day before
accident she was in

Oregon with her niece
and her niece's husband

and they were walking
this wooded path and

the niece's husband
said that there's lots

of owls in this area
and to see one is very

lucky but to make eye
contact with one during

the day is considered
by the natives to be

the most luck you could
ever have and she was

on this trail and she
heard a rustling of

feathers and she turned
and looked and an owl

was there and it
swirled its head all the

way around and made eye
contact where she held

it for at least 60
seconds with that owl

before her niece and
her husband came and

scared it off and she said
it just was so amazing

the owl seemed so
important to me with

this accident that you
would draw that for me

i don't know i had a
patient that always

ate cantaloupe breakfast
lunch and dinner

so of course i drew a
picture of a cantaloupe

for her i had a
patient that was from

new orleans so i drew
a jazz band it was

a hard drawing but I
really thought it was

good when it was
over I had a patient

that loved the Mexican
soccer team so I drew

a picture of his
favorite soccer player

on the pitch and
he's always the first

person to like anything
I post on Instagram

another Instagram
experience I had was there

was a skater girl
and I drew I found I

went to her instagram
kind of stalked her

and found a picture a
video of her skateboarding

and i captured a
image from it and

sketched that and she
was so happy she put

in her story and she
commanded all her

followers to follow me
and i got 26 followers

the next day really
worked out good for me

there was a patient
that ran a a dog or i

don't know if it was
a school for dogs or

because she was raising
dogs but she uh she was

from Oregon and I
looked on her Instagram

I found a picture of
her dog with a ball in

its mouth and I thought
oh I'm gonna sketch

that and when I was
sketching I had the

thought maybe the dog
was in the accident with

her maybe the dog was
killed in the accident

maybe this is a mistake
but I was so far

along I had to finish
it and I gave it to

her and she cried and
cried because she missed

her pal so much and I
told her what I felt

about her the dog been
in the accident she

goes the dog was in
the accident but the

dog is fine but even
if the dog wasn't fine

this picture means so
much to me and she comes

and visits me every
time she comes to utah

to get her wheelchair
adjusted i uh drew

a lot of pictures there
was a very colorful

man and i drew i used
color i don't use color

often but i did a
dragonfly in watercolors

and the next day when
I went to see him

he said you googled the
meaning of butterfly

or dragonfly and I
did and I read the

meaning out loud to
him he goes that's

me 100% how did you
know I was a dragonfly

and it was always
really gratifying

to give the patients
the pictures if I

drew a patient's dog
they always cried

they always cried
and I sometimes cried

And at the end,
when they're going

home and I tell
them they had to

remember me, I
would thank them

for everything
they'd done for me.

And they would always
argue with me, no, no,

we haven't done anything
for you. What have

we done for you? You
can't tell me we did

anything for you.
You're the one that came

in here and served us
and took care of us.

And I would say, there's
a comforting thought

at the close of the
day when I'm weary and

lonely and sad that
sort of gets into this

crusty old heart and
bids me be merry and

glad it gets in my soul
and it drives out the

blues and it finally
thrills me through and

through it's just as
we thought that chanced

the refrain i'm glad
i touched shoulders

with you did you know
you were strong did you

know you were brave
did you know you were

there when i aired did
you know that i waited

and listened and prayed
and was cheered by

your simplest word did
you know that i long

for the smile on your
face for the sound of

your voice ringing true
did you know I grew

better and braver because
I had merely touched

shoulders with you I'm
thankful I live that

I battle I strive for
the place that I know

I must fill I'm
grateful for heartache I

meet with a grin what
fortune must send good

or ill I may not have
wealth and I may not

be great but I know I
will always be true for

I have in my heart the
courage you gave when

once I touch shoulders
with you thank you

whenever I tell
that poem people

say I gotta give
me a copy of that

so if you stop me
after the show I

have copies of it
if you want his

sketches are truly
wonderful please

ask him what his
Instagram handle is

we need to smash hit
punk kick whatever

kids say these
days and really

raise his following
y'all okay Okay.