Her other day job
Nurse finds comfort making others giggle

IN THE TRAUMA WARD, "you see it all," says surgical nurse Donna Smilow,
"A lot of car wrecks. Gunshot wounds. People come in with their legs cut off from an electric saw. Hit-and-run accidents, it's horrible."
When life is on the line, adrenaline allows her to focus on the job at hand, Smilow said. But later, the images return to haunt her.
"It lust happened last week. actually,"' she adds. "It was my day to do kids, and all my kids had brain tumors and convulsions and so on, I went home and just lost it that night... You see these 3-, 4-, 8- year old kids. And their parents - just to see the looks on their faces, it's overwhelming."
John Muir Trauma center offers free counseling to help employees cope with the heartbreaking realities of their work. But Smilow, 36, has discovered her own brand of therapy-clowning.
"You don't ever do a clown job that's not a happy situation," she says. "It's for weddings, it's for carnivals, it's for parties."
Discovering her alter ego as Loveee The Clown was a blessing, Smilow says. Following the birth of her daughter, Holli, who's now 3, she cut back her hours at the trauma center. So her new business, Loveee the Clown and Party Company, helps make ends meet financially as well as emotionally, she says.
"Laughter is always the best medicine, We say that a lot, but it truly is."
- Sara Steffens
Times photos by Ken Perkins