LITTLETON, Colo. — In the intensive care unit (ICU), moments can feel fleeting — especially in the final hours with a loved one. At AdventHealth Littleton, a team of nurses is helping ensure those moments last beyond the hospital walls.
Norma Marie Matlock — affectionately called “Nanny” by her family — was 94 when she passed away in the ICU last year. Her granddaughter, Sierra Ray, remembers her as “a good old Texas girl,” adding, “I like to call her my whiskey in a tea cup.”
“She was one of the strongest women that I ever knew, but she came and presented herself just like a teacup,” Ray said. “She was like my best friend. She helped raise me… even my kids, as young as they are… they said, there’s never going to be another Nanny.”
Nanny’s daughter-in-law, Olga Matlock, who is also a registered nurse at AdventHealth, said Norma “has always been a second mama to me.”
“She was such a warm person,” Matlock said. “Having pictures and items is one thing, something about the heartbeat that just makes it warm.”
That heartbeat became part of a physical memento thanks to the hospital’s “Three Wishes” program, which offers dying patients and their families three personalized memories or keepsakes.
Launched in July 2024 in the neuro trauma ICU and expanded hospital-wide in March 2025, the program was created by nurses Carmel Benavides, Lauren Gano and Grace Pippin. Rolling carts stocked with supplies — from fingerprint kits to knitted blankets — make it possible to fulfill requests directly at the bedside.
“We say three wishes, but we don’t limit it,” Benavides said. “If they want four or five, it’s fine.”
The most popular keepsake, she said, has been small glass vials adorned with ribbon, holding something deeply personal.
Ray and Matlock chose one containing Nanny’s last healthy heart rhythm printed inside.
“It was the smallest thing, but it was the biggest thing,” Ray said. “This is just a way that we didn’t have to leave the hospital without our Nanny, so it was very special.”
Benavides estimates the program has served between 80 and 90 families so far. For many, the connection helps temper the loss.
“Obviously, losing a family member… there’s nothing that can immediately nip that pain,” Ray said. “But this definitely took the edge off. We had a piece of her still with us.”
Ray still carries the vial in her car.
“She watches over me every single day,” she said, thanking the nurse who made it possible.
For the nurses, the project also helps them process the emotional strain of ICU work.
“It’s very difficult, because people come to the ICU because their loved one is very sick, and unfortunately, some people don’t make it,” Benavides said. “This project has helped me manage those feelings and still feel like I’m able to help and connect with these families.”
Next year, the team will present their work at a national nurses conference in San Diego — bringing the idea, and the keepsakes, to a wider audience.
