Mother and son bring verse to the holidays

Mary Rita Schilke Sill, a retired teacher and a Granger resident, surprised her son Josh Korzan this Christmas with a poem about him.

Josh, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from Clay High School, also writes poetry. Soon to be a medical student at Rush Medical College in Chicago, he wrote a poem about working in the ICU last Christmas Eve. Besides medical school and his writing, Josh also participates in powerlifting and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Josh Korzan poses with his mother, Mary Rita Schilke Sill.

Both Josh’s and Mary’s poems appear below. In Josh’s poem, ROSC is short for “return of sponaneous circulation” while EEG is a test for abnormalities in brain waves.

Christmas in the ICU

By Josh Korzan (copyright 2021)

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all on the floor

All the nurses were doubled, tripled … or more

The bags were all hung, from IV poles with care

And bright Christmas colors, on the scrubs that we wear

The patients were vented, sedated in bed

EKG on their chest, EEG on the head

As the doctor and team, then started to round

A code blue alarmed, with its heart-wrenching sound

The epi was given, compressions began

The doctor directed, and called out the plan

Once ROSC was achieved, but a minute or two

The sharp, piercing sound, of another code blue

The team then did scramble, to save another man’s life

So he may go home, to his children and wife

And so this is Christmas, in critical care

The heartbreaking tales, of the sorrow we bare

If home with your family, give thanks to the night

Not everyone is so lucky … some are still in the fight

One of a Kind

By Mary Rita Schilke Sill (copyright 2021)

Just out of high school he was one of the few

A Marine, a patriot of the red, white and blue.

He served with his brothers from the Corps

Heralding freedom of untold more.

After a business degree and a job in L.A.

There was something still missing at the end of the day.

In a watershed moment he changed his life’s mission

And began his quest to become a physician.

To be a maverick — he would strive to aspire

With discipline, dedication and prolific desire.


No corners cut, no task does he shirk

You see, he undaunted by arduous work.

While he’s a paragon of strength and grit

He always holds space for light-hearted wit.

He lifts more than weights, he lifts spirits too

And breathes the philosophy of Jiu-Jitsu.

Before the big things, he gets the little things right

Taking time to love — well, always sharing his light.

He’s one of those guys on whom you can depend

He is loyal and true — the best kind of friend.

He’s a wordsmith whose verse is a work of art

Often reflecting the gold tucked in his heart.

He lives his life with intention and zest

Nothing detracts him from being the best.

He’s a stand up man, one of a kind

 A better human you cannot find.

I’m prouder than proud to call him my son

Inspiring. Unrivaled. Second to none.