The Thanksgiving Shift

Life

Image from the 2023 edition of holiday heroes

Jessica Bullock, a nurse in the newborn intensive care unit at Children’s Egleston Hospital cares for a newborn on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (Natrice Miller/ Natrice.miller@ajc.com)

Newly promoted Assistant Director of Nursing, Olivia Blackburn, chats with resident Ethel Williams during lunch at the A. G. Rhodes Wesley Woods facility in Decatur.She has worked holidays for five years, Thanksgivings and Christmases, as her family gathers back at home. She does it because she values her mission of connecting with the nursing home residents, who may or may not have family come to visit them. Greeting them with a human touch and saying their name can light up their face, she says. PHIL SKINNER FOR THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

(L-R) Odari, Shelia, Khadija, and Phenus Head pose for a portrait at Head's Plumbing Sales & Service in Atlanta on Friday, November 3, 2023. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Jessica Graham poses for a portrait outside her truck on Sunday, March 22, 2023, in Lithonia. (Elijah Nouvelage for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Joshua Bondoc has been stationed at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida for a year and his spending Thanksgiving away from his parents.

(Left to right) Courtney Barrett and Melony Mathis Jones, Delta Airlines customer service agents with the Airport Experience team walk through the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (Natrice Miller/ Natrice.miller@ajc.com)

SWAT Police Officer Connor McDonald poses for a portrait at the Marietta Police Department in Marietta on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

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Jessica Bullock, a nurse in the newborn intensive care unit at Children’s Egleston Hospital cares for a newborn on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (Natrice Miller/ Natrice.miller@ajc.com)

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