The End is just the beginning

So I have been working hard "editing" my blogs so I can "publish" them all in a book! For publication? I only wish! For personal satisfaction-yep that's it right there. Close enough for now, anyway. And I need to wrap it up, this "Volume I" if you will, because there will be more, count on it!

All kinds of thoughts enter my swirling mind, There is so much to do, so much to say, so much to find...looking for just the right pictures to attach to each story. I have added and deleted and just now after review, see that I have added some pictures twice, so I will need replacements. Geez Louweez! This editing stuff is a full time job! God, I would have loved "that" job. Just poring over other people's writing, their books, their articles, their thoughts...I know, as a writer that I make typo errors all the time and I have a keen eye for them, my own included of course! I just want to get out that RED pen and scratch through those errors and finally feel like a Creative Writing or English teacher! THAT is what I really wanted to be when I "grew up" With a minor in ART of course.

How many of us actually do that? Become what they wanted? I dunno ( slang word for "I don't know" and I am not a tight ass, I do accept slang- no RED pens for that ) How LONG does it take to figure this out? I cannot relate to anyone saying " Oh, I always wanted to be a nurse, since I was a little girl" Not me! Never and I mean NEVER entered this mind. I never even met a nurse, UNTIL I met my neighbor Fran, who wanted to BE a nurse. So I drove her to the school and she enrolled and then started working and told me her adventures and the next thing you knew! I was a nurse too! I was in my 20s though and then Lo and Behold! Fran and I went BACK to nursing school again! But together this time, in our 40s! Whew! I feel "blessed" to have "found" such a career. My life was changed forever, just by meeting one person...Wow.




Nursing became my life...24/7. You can't just "turn it off" EVER, and the ones that can scare me and they should scare you too. But I ain't ( so?) talking about them! Nope! They don't even count, UNLESS they are doing some kinda invasive procedure on you, like starting an IV or something. Then Be Afraid, be very afraid! And don't be shy, ask questions! You know that feeling you get when something or someone just isn't "quite right" It is your "gut" feeling and it is there for a reason. LISTEN to it. If you ask a nurse, "Have you ever started an IV before? and she says, (after it is done ) No, I sure haven't! Pretty good for my first one, huh?" Then you can bet that she HAS done it at least a million times. If she dodges your question and misses the stick more than 2 times, then be wary BUT a "seasoned" nurse will tell the truth, shake her head and say "Well I am off today and I will get my friend to come in" And you know what? She will, get her friend that is...

Every single nurse has a friend that she works with. WHY? Because you become friends with people you trust and who care about others and you. It may be the best "perk" I have ever received in my nursing career-lifelong friends. From the very first, Fran, who inspired me to become a nurse and became my "first" BNFF,  you know, Best Nurse Friend Forever... If I had to list them all, it would be hard, but I will try...

I met Sue and Vickie, the most constant and sweet, in nursing school. And then Marie and Jackie, the most "faithful"  and Betty, another inspiration and Dawn, the most loving and caring, and Susan, dedicated and loyal, all in the Newborn Nursery. And of course Kathy, a high school chum and a brilliant nurse. And then Binnie, who I lost recently and who's passing really led me to THINK of The End...end of life, end of a book or chapter, end of a career, end of whatever... I worked with Binnie in Medical Records and I survived there "because" of her. And then, back to Sue, who NEVER gave up on me and what I had in me, perhaps the truest friend of all, she always, always had/has my back. And then Chris, who became the "younger sister" of my choosing and is my sidekick today as we speak! And then Georgia, who is "always" on my mind, and then Michelle, my Belle, All I can say is No wonder there are songs written about her. And Barb, who was wrapping up her career in nursing and gave hope of another kind. And Carolyn, who has the  greatest sense of humor and fun , who showed me I "could" be a teacher. And then Lynn, the finest, clinical nurse I have ever known and Lisa, who later became what she always wanted to be- a police officer-she is/was a bright and beautiful inspiration to me, to this day. And then back to Marie, my "evil twin" the other half to "my" M and M, perhaps the most versatile and talented nurse I have ever known.

There is a blog ahead for every one of them. They are my friends for a reason and there are also many who were friends for a season, who I will mention along the way, as well. I will not forget any of you, rest assured. And so "The End" to my first Blogger Book is a tribute to all my friends and family who will "become" Volume II...and become a "new" beginning...

Cuz in the end, or the long and short of it, it is all about love and family and friends and forgiveness and tolerance and...

The love you take is equal to the love you make...