You're right. It's hard to pick one. But this one has to be right up there. I "inherited" a very sick patient because his previous physician had not signed his Medicare documents for over a year so they had to pay a devastating amount of their meager savings. He had severe diabetes and advanced Parkinson's disease. There were no effective medications at the time. He came under my care with a serious infection called necrotizing fasciitis, where there was nothing but pus between the skin and muscle of his thigh. With the Parkinson's he couldn't smile or roll over in bed. The infection finally cleared and during his hospital stay, L-DOPA, the first effective Parkinson medication became available. I still remember him walking down the hall of the hospital, carrying his walker, smiling, and stopping into the rooms of his friends to spread cheer. I'm not ashamed to say that I get choked up to this day relating that experience.
Well, if I had to name only one great thing in my life I've seen.. Then, I couldn't really do that. I've seen such beautiful places, they all deserve a special place in my heart. One of which was when I went to Tennessee, that state is so lovely, that it would be an awesome place to live. And, I would love to go back there some day.
Lucky you. I always wondered why they called them the Smokies. One morning early I stood in the motel parking lot watching the mist swirling around me. Then I knew.
I too have been to Gatlinburg in 1980 ... the Aspen of the East as I call it. Also, Knoxville a few times and I lived in Chattanooga for two years in the Red Bank area up around Signel Mtn. I was born and raised in the Atlanta area and the southeast (lived in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee) and now live in the Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas area .. of all the places I've ever lived Chattanooga is my favorite. Lionel ... maybe the two of us should do Gatlinburg some day.
There are many in my life of 62 years ... one major one I cannot mention ... a few of the ones that would be at the top of the list would be the birth of my one and only child/daughter almost 27 years ago ... after that would be seeing her graduate from kindergarden and the teacher wanting to have her set back because of her lack reading ability and repeat kindergarden the following year ... but we worked with her all summer long and she went on to the 1st grade that year, then high school where she graduated as Valedictorian, then college where she graduated 4 yrs as an honor student on the dean list and a member of the national honor society ... her degree was journalism and is a writer herself ... now she is to marry next month, another landmark of greatest events in my life .... I suppose my daughter is the greatest of all ... from the time of 4 or 5 years of age ... all I could think of was getting married and having a daughter ... now she is to marry and leave me ... by the way she still lives with me. Other events at the top would be when I dedicated my life to God ... my marriage 38 years ago that produced my daughter ... I suppose the latest would be when I met Lionel .... there are many more for God has blessed me more in ways that most are not. I'm sure there will be more .. new ones ... maybe a grandchild one day and who knows what else.
man, Lionel it is hard trying to pick just one thing! well, to put the family in one, I would have to say, just last October when me, my husband and daughter bought our first home. I have been through apartments, rental houses and I even lived in a tent for a few months back during a rough stage in my life. Our home, our very own home!
Well, in my 35 years, I think the greatest thing that happened to me are my kids. I've never wanted to have kids, because in my mind, they are always in the way...lol...even when I got married, I still never wanted kids. My ex-husband though wanted kids, so he asked my brother and my sister in law if we could adopt their baby that they were expecting. I was livid, I was not ready to be tied down, but then my daughter brought a whole new meaning to my life. That was the happiest and the most memorable time of my life, and then with my son being born last year, that was an added bonus.
My greatest moment had to be my wedding day and even after twenty-three years of caregiving (after fifteen years of good health), I would have married him again. Another great moment was holding my very own first novel in my hands and experiencing a sense of achievement as a senior citizen.
Of course my marriage and the birth of my children were all great personal events, but the one event that stands out in my mind, was being in Times Square on VJ Night with a girl friend celebrating the end of the war, and being passed around by soldiers and sailors, kissing and hugging us, and when it got very crowded, we went in to Radio City Music Hall, and saw A Bell For Adono, not sure of that spelling, but we were the only other two of six people in that entire huge theatre. There were no Rockettes that night. I can't help but remember that time , the war had been on for so long, and we all were waiting for our friends to come home. It was a wonderful night.
What a great memory VJ night. I was still a little boy in Louisiana the only thing I recall was how excited my mother and her siblings were because my cousin Dennis Doucet who had been a prisoner of war in Japan was finally coming home.
Two words caught my eye: Louisiana and Doucet. We lived in New Orleans for eleven years and had dear friends named Doucet who lived in Golden Meadow. (I refer to the area in Man on the Balcony.) Wonderful cajun people. Related?
Marie .... there could be a relationship ... Doucet is Lionel's mother's maiden name ... and I'm working on his family tree .. it's what I do ... as a hobby .. both his parents the LaVergne's and Douset's were from Quebec Canada but moved to Louisiana where Lionel was born .... I maintain over 2 dozen people's family trees ... it's my passion ... spending time with those who have left this earth ... finding out all I can about those who lived before myself and finding the connections that make us all siblings ... we are that you know ... all children of our Heavenly Father. I have connected many who did not they were related ............. smile!
As you say, it is so difficult to name just one, and so the only event that I can say I would never have lived to have lived without is the birth of my child.
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Comments: 25
I "inherited" a very sick patient because his previous physician had not signed his Medicare documents for over a year so they had to pay a devastating amount of their meager savings. He had severe diabetes and advanced Parkinson's disease. There were no effective medications at the time. He came under my care with a serious infection called necrotizing fasciitis, where there was nothing but pus between the skin and muscle of his thigh. With the Parkinson's he couldn't smile or roll over in bed.
The infection finally cleared and during his hospital stay, L-DOPA, the first effective Parkinson medication became available.
I still remember him walking down the hall of the hospital, carrying his walker, smiling, and stopping into the rooms of his friends to spread cheer. I'm not ashamed to say that I get choked up to this day relating that experience.
Then, I couldn't really do that.
I've seen such beautiful places, they all deserve a special place in my heart.
One of which was when I went to Tennessee, that state is so lovely, that it would be an awesome place to live.
And, I would love to go back there some day.
well, to put the family in one, I would have to say, just last October when me, my husband and daughter bought our first home. I have been through apartments, rental houses and I even lived in a tent for a few months back during a rough stage in my life. Our home, our very own home!
Another great moment was holding my very own first novel in my hands and experiencing a sense of achievement as a senior citizen.
www.paintings-prose-palmbeach.com