The following story is surreal yet so real. We’ve all experienced or seen how children respond when confronted with a needle – that dreaded shot. Just imagine how a child might react when confronted with major surgery.

Monica has shared this marvelous story about how Mary uses her unique gift that makes a difference for children facing uncertainty – a real Pay-It-Forward story!

                                                   Babsie Integris - “Make People Smile!”

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Babsie Integris rises at 4:30 a.m. twice a week for her volunteer job at an Oklahoma City hospital. Always smiling, she never complains about the early hour. Her friend Mary drives her to work. Babsie is impeccably dressed in her hospital volunteer uniform; crisp white blouse, maroon jacket, white pants, white socks and tennis shoes, her dark brown hair in braids. She wears her service pins, and is especially proud of the one for 3,000 hours of volunteering. Mary is fond of saying Babsie wears size 2 toddler clothes, size 6 shoes, and she is 4 years old.

Arriving at 6 a.m., Babsie signs in at the Volunteer Office and heads straight to the Plaza Surgical Center to visit young patients scheduled for early surgeries. From Plaza, she picks up her surgery schedule and goes to the Surgical Ambulatory Unit (SAU). In between visits, she hangs out in the SAU waiting room in her specially sized chair until it is time to make another trip to the Surgical Center, according to the schedule.

Her friend Mary is deep in thought about the children she and Babsie will meet. Every visit with a child is spontaneous, inspired by their individual personalities, and Mary and Babsie are there to help calm the fears of the little ones.

Babsie is the one individual who can light up every face just by coming into a room. The nurses say her presence helps the children relax. Babsie is a puppet made by Puppet Productions, the now out-of-business California firm that fabricated some of the early Muppets as well as puppets for church productions. Babsie bears a definite family resemblance to some of her more famous cousins.

Mary and Babsie have been a hospital team for 5 years. They visit with children and give them support and encouragement. Babsie knows just what to say to a frightened youngster who is facing the unknown in surgery.

As medical preparations are made, Babsie explains. In a sweet, childlike voice, she tries out the blood pressure cuff to show how it works. She helps another little boy who doesn’t want to take his medicine by offering to go first. When the nurse tells Babsie it is to help the boy feel better and she can’t take it, she says to him, “You take it and let me know what it tastes like.” The reverse psychology works, and the boy says, “It doesn’t taste like bubble gum, but it isn’t too bad.” Sometimes even the pre-op room is so frightening, children are glued to the floor, crying and immobile. Babsie will say, “Would you hold my hand? I don’t want to go in by myself and I need some help.” Mary once heard a nurse say, “It’s a miracle!” when Babsie convinced a particularly reluctant child to take that first step.

When Babsie finishes her rounds at Pediatrics, she visits “the big children” in the Cardiovascular/Stroke Center and Geriatric Unit. As she leaves each room, she throws a kiss with her little felt hand. With all the strength she can muster, one weak patient puts an index finger to her lips, then turns it toward Babsie.

Mary credits a ventriloquist’s visit to her elementary school as the inspiration for her vocation. “He gave a talk about how to throw your voice. I hide behind her face too. The only ones who look to see where my voice is coming from are the adults,” she said.

Mary acquired Babsie twenty-five years ago when she was part of a volunteer puppet theater troupe at her church. She also volunteered for a puppet group called Kids on the Block. Mary and her partner, Caroline, traveled Oklahoma, giving presentations in schools under the auspices of the state’s Child Abuse Prevention Program. When her partner left, Mary donated all of her puppets except for one. “I don’t know why I kept Babsie. I think God must have known He had a place where He could use Babsie and me,” she said.
A few years later, Mary found herself volunteering at Integris Baptist Medical Center. When Daisy, the Volunteer Coordinator, discovered she owned a puppet, Babsie Integris had a new name and a job. She is the first puppet/volunteer at the hospital. A recent addition is a boy puppet named Henry Bubba Integris. He works with a volunteer named Peggy.

Babsie and Mary’s teamwork brings surprise, wonder, assurance, and smiles to folks facing some of life’s most frightening moments. They both live up to their mission, “Make people smile!”

Monica
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