thatnursewrites

Share what you know about the year you were born.

I love the year that I was born because it’s the beginning of a decade.

The Vietnam War continued to rage on in 1970. Thank you to all men and women who served. 🇺🇸

The Jackson 5 was introduced on American Band Stand. The Beatles broke up. My husband was born. Apollo 13 attempted to fly their mission but couldn’t go to the moon because of an oxygen tank explosion. The first Earth Day is celebrated. Elton John performs in the United States for the first time. Christine Perfect (Christine McVie) joins Fleetwood Mac. (I love Fleetwood Mac) Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died of drug overdoses. The 1970 Thundering Herd Marshall University Football team was killed in a plane crash. PBS becomes a network. The Ford Pinto is introduced.

In my personal history, my great grandparents were Sicilian immigrants. The last of them, my dad’s maternal grandmother died months before I was born but she did know my parents were expecting.

My dad received his draft notice for Vietnam when my mom was pregnant with me. He would spend six years in the Army National Guard and miss my birth because he was in basic training. My mom threw my grandmas out of her room when she was in labor because they were driving her crazy. My Papa Charlie was smoking cigarettes in the waiting room.

Do you ever see wild animals?

For the past 11 years my husband, our two children and our dog have vacationed in a mountain lake town. This summer, one night after supper my kids returned from walking our dog and announced they had seen a bear digging into the trash down the street. My daughter didn’t want any part of going back outside but my husband, son and I rushed back out down the road to get a closer look. We were probably within 30-40 yards of the bear. We carefully backed away and decided to return to the cabin when the bear noticed us, straightened its body and glanced in our direction.

The next morning, my husband discovered the bear on the bottom deck of the cabin walking up the stairs. He was coming up the steps. We stood there quietly to observe it. It was thrilling to be so close to a wild animal like that.

Name your top three pet peeves.

Wow, this is a loaded question. Here we go.

1. People who waste my time. My time is precious. Please be considerate.

2. Loud chewing. If my brain tunes into it during a meal it makes me crazy inside.

3. Excessive talking. There are people in this world who don’t realize when others don’t want to talk.

At work:

Patients who tell me they are a hard stick the minute I walk into their room for the first time. It sets a negative tone.

What is good about having a pet?

For me the best things about having a pet are love, loyalty, companionship and commitment. When shopping for a pet, it has been said that the animal picks the person. I remember seeing my dog on petfinder. He definitely picked me. It was his eyes that told me he felt sad, rejected and vulnerable. I couldn’t stop wondering why this 2 1/2 year old miniature poodle was surrendered. I knew I wanted him. So we brought him home and it was one of the best decisions my family of four has ever made. We each have our unique relationship with him. Eleven years later he still makes me smile. He still fills me with joy and love. He still completes me. He’s one of the great loves of my life.

What historical event fascinates you the most?

I enjoy learning about American History. It’s difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what fascinates me the most because there’s so much out there. I’ve always been a read a book before seeing a movie type of person. I especially like when I randomly see a movie based on a true story or a documentary that interests me, I do a ton of reading about it. I’ve learned more about history that way than I ever did in high school and it’s been my favorite way to learn as an adult. I become engrossed, obsessed until I’ve had my fill of the information and then I move onto something else.

What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to?

I would love a side gig. Something creative and fun that earns some regular extra money and has nothing to do with being a nurse or me getting up at 0400. There are a few downsides to this. 1. I’m not creative. Not at all. 2. I don’t have time. 3. I do not have a mind for business. I

’m also a stickler for work life balance so in reality I don’t have time for this because there’s only so many hours in a day. Yet, I still fantasize about this. I still pray for this. Maybe the universe just hasn’t put it into fruition for me yet but I remain hopeful something will present itself.

What have you been working on?

These two things are relative. I am working on the second thing this year that has brought me outside of my comfort zone.

The first thing which I accomplished in the spring was a nationally recognized certification exam in my area of nursing. Studying for the exam was a brutal yet rewarding experience. It gave me sense of purpose that I long for when I see my early twenty something children glued to their laptops to complete assignments for their degrees.

Shortly before I took the certification exam my husband and I were given two free tickets to Brit Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute band. The concert was amazing and the music resonated into my soul and into the last remaining brain cells I had left. The music saved me and a week later I passed the certification exam. I’ll never forget that concert.

The thing that I am currently working on which is the second thing that’s dragging me way outside of my comfort zone is a project for my hospital’s Clinical Advancement Program. My project is to create a teaching module for my department’s yearly competencies on an emergent anesthesia complication called Malignant Hyperthermia. I was inspired to do my project on this topic because it was one of the things I learned about for my exam and a topic that I found fascinating.

The project involves research, posters, creating scenarios, PowerPoint and writing. Going into to this, I felt rusty because I earned my BSN 12 years ago and haven’t done any projects or paper writing since then. I’ve realized though when I can turn my anxiety off and focus, I can actually conquer the tasks I didn’t think I could. Today I mastered putting my research into APA format for the first time in 12 years and my PowerPoint is coming along nicely. After our competencies are over with in early November I will have more research and writing to do. I know that I can do it though.

I’m getting there one step at a time and it feels good.

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?

I lived with my parents until I got married. I moved out of state with my husband two weeks after our wedding. It was a fourteen hour ride from the state that our parents lived in. My husband had moved after we graduated from college and I followed him after our wedding. I had quickly befriended an older women in our apartment building who had two young teenage boys. One day she asked me what I was making for dinner. It occurred to me that I was no longer living in my parents cozy three bedroom ranch house waiting for my mom to cook me dinner. I was now living in this dumpy apartment, I didn’t have a job yet and now I am responsible for cooking dinner. I didn’t even know how to cook! That was 27 years ago. I don’t remember what we had for dinner that night but I do know my transition into adulthood and married life was not a difficult one.

What would your life be like without music?

When I think about what my life would be without music I reflect upon a scene from the Johnny Cash movie Walk the Line. Johnny Cash and his band were at Sun Records attempting to record a gospel song. In the middle of the song record producer Sam Phillips stops them and tells them he can’t accept any more gospel music, that this song they were playing would not sell. He went on to tell Johnny Cash to sing a song that was something real, something he felt because that’s the kind of song people want to hear. That’s the kind of song that truly saves people. That’s how I feel about music. It takes only one good song to turn a frown upside down, to feel alive, to change a vibration, to be inspired. My father always played music in the house when I was growing up so it’s always been engrained in the fibers of my being. Music has saved me through every struggle and victory in my entire life. No matter what is going on in my life, whether it’s good or bad, I know music is always there for me. Without music my life would be a silent movie.