AUSTIN, Texas — It's a movement meant to bring people together -- to make neighbors into friends.
Now, the Turquoise Table is working to bring those at St. David's Medical Center together.
We first told you about the turquoise Table a few years ago when Austinite Kristen Schell started the efforts.
Now, there are Turquoise tables all over the country, in all 50 states.
It's simple. A few pieces of wood, a couple screws and a bright paint color meaning friendship -- but the work it can do can be profound.
Kelli Kelley donated a turquoise table to St. David's Medical Center in honor of her two children, who each started their little lives in the NICU there.
Her daughter came six weeks early, but her son, Jackson, was the one who stayed in NICU for four months.
"He weighed a pound and a half,” Kelley said.
Kelley knows just how tough it can be to walk these hallways, not knowing what tomorrow looks like.
"All the medical equipment and all the beeping and the sounds and everything is just so overwhelming,” Kelley said.
It's a feeling that doctors and nurses can get too.
Rhonda Reed is the Director of the NICU and cared for Kelley's son 18 years ago.
"I remember he was really tiny,” Reed said.
There are hundreds more stories just like his.
“Being in the NICU is probably one of the scariest things that ever happens to a family,” NICU Nurse Manager Christy Gentry said. "It can be stressful just being in that atmosphere.”
“The emotional toll it takes on the families, the practitioners, the nurses -- so any opportunity to take a deep breath,” Reed said.
A breath Kelley hopes they can take outside to the turquoise table.
“For me and my nurses, this is a great opportunity for them to step to go outside on a busy day, to enjoy some sunshine and to kind-of reset and kind-of finish their shift,” Reed said.
“It’s just nice to be able to come out here. This park is beautiful,” Gentry said.
Kelley hopes the beautiful space serves as a place for shared stories, similar fears and an exchange of hope.
"I think it could bring people together who might not normally talk to each other,” Gentry said.
"I think anytime that we can find others that have had a similar experience or going through a similar experience, it’s so empowering,” Kelley said.
It's a place where doctors, nurses and patients who live in this complex world can come together around something simple.
There are tables at a few other hospital locations in Austin, but the Kelley family only donated this one.
The founder of the table movement lives in Austin.
She gathered the positive stories people emailed her from the table and wrote a book.