My shift ends at 7 p.m., but when patients get sick—it doesn’t end until they’re stable. There was no dinner amongst chaos, waiting, and the hope I could go home soon. As a vegetarian, I never thought I’d eat anything in the hospital. At 10 p.m., a nurse noticed I hadn’t eaten all day and offered me her turkey sandwich for her night shift. I closed my eyes when I took the first bite. Exhaustion softened into something like relief. That sandwich something I never would have chosen—tasted like care. I have never tasted anything like it since.
Toshita Kumar is a physician, immigrant, and emerging writer exploring belonging, memory, and human connection through tenderness, displacement, resilience, and unexpected moments of grace. “Turkey Sandwich” won our THE JOY IN THE UNSEEN contest, part of our 2026 Micromemoir Marathon.