50 years ago- More Reflections on High School and Beyond

I remember these things:

• laughing like crazy during physics lab classes with my brilliant physics partner, Alice Marcel.   Understanding next to nothing in Chemistry Class (how the heck did I become a nurse?)
• parties with boys in basements with Nancy Scheper, (Mary) Lynn Corwin, Kathy Detweiler, Sue Bellamacino, etc.  
• praying by a little homemade altar on a school desk as a bona fide member of Sr. Michael’s Legion of Mary and then traveling by subway to the dreaded “bowels “of Brooklyn to feed the babies at St. Mary’s Hospital.   I loved feeding those babies and went on to be a Pediatric Nurse.
• Eating linguine and clam sauce in a fancy-dancy, air-conditioned room - with a waterfall no less- at Mama Leoni’s the day they put an OLWA ring on my finger.
• tagging along with Linda Giarratano when her boyfriend, Tommy Ryan, picked her up in a real live automobile at the end of the school day.  Being amazed at their young love and true commitment and at Linda’s faithfulness to one man.
• discussions regarding how long you could kiss a boy before it crossed over the line from a venial to a mortal sin!
•  the immense fanfare that accompanied our school elections.   I admired all the class officers and wished I were more like them.
• attending our commencement dance, An Evening in Paris, on Friday evening, May 4^th 1962, in the auditorium of St. Mary Gate of Heaven school.   
•  holding a bouquet of roses in my arm as I walked down the aisle on graduation day at St. Mary Gate of Heaven.  
• being insulted when I was told by my Guidance Counselor that I’d be better going to a smaller nursing school.  Listening instead to my Mom, and saying “yes” to my invitation to attend St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing (SVH) on West 12^th Street in Manhattan.   My Mom was right! This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

So where have I been since June 1962

• I worked in Pediatrics (SVH, Jamaica Hospital) and was then involved in establishing the Pediatric Specialty Clinics at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.   I discovered that the “ bowels” of Brooklyn weren’t too bad after all.
• After kissing a lot of frogs (venially only, of course!), I met and married (9-18-71) the man God found for me (that is a too long a story for this venue).   
• Wanting to avoid the rat race of commuting from Long Island to jobs in NYC, Bob and I moved from Ridgewood, Queens to the countryside surrounding Binghamton, NY, on March 9^th, 1975, my 30^th birthday.
• Sadly, this Pediatric Nurse/Lover of Babies never got pregnant but happily we were blessed with two children anyway.    I met our son’s Birth Mom in Johnson City, NY when I worked at Wilson Memorial Hospital there.   Brian was born in Johnson City on Sept 10, 1076 and Bob and I took him from the hospital to our new apartment in Albany, NY.    Bob had gotten a job offer in the Capital District as an Accountant with NYS Department of Social Services.  Two years later we adopted our little redhead girl through Albany County.   Diane was born Nov. 6^th 1978 and came to her home with us on May 11^th 1979 (another long story). 
•  In the early 70’s while still living in Queens, I went back to school and obtained a Bachelor’s degree from St. Francis College in Brooklyn. 
• When my kids were small I started craving intellectual stimulation and some activities outside of the house and so I decided to take a course or two at Russell Sage College in Troy, NY.  This eventually led me to an M.S. in Health Education.
• For awhile I worked in an Administrative Position with the NYS Department of Health Early Intervention Program here in Albany, NY.    I was not happy doing this type of work however, it was at this job that I learned to turn on a computer and move a mouse.    Now I create and present the Power Point presentations at our weekend liturgies in our parish church, Christ Our Light.    I love all creative aspects of the computer and wish I had a live-in Instructor. 
• I ended my active nursing career (I say “active career” because isn’t a nurse always a nurse?) in a totally different area of nursing – the NYS Nursing Home Complaint Hotline.  .  Oh the stories I heard!  I could have made a fortune if I had the stomach to write a book entitled, “365 Days on the Nursing Home Complaint Hotline”.  
• Our grandson, Connor Patrick Buchner, born on 05-05-05 is a true Gift from God and we enjoy every single moment that we spend with him.  
• It is amazing to be on this side of life so quickly.  I wouldn’t have believed it even if someone had tried to explain it to me way back when.    I sure hope we get together again in another 50 years.