Meandering on Monday with Janet Lane Walters #MFRWAuthor #BWLAuthor #Memories

Meander 1 - Memories - A different start this time. On Friday my husband of sixty years died. He has been critically ill since Christmas Eve and his death  has been expected. Still it is a shock. The children and grandchildren know and the few other relatives we have know. As I've told them "We'll celebrate his life" not his death. That's where the memories begin.

Our first meeting is one that could be found in a romance book. Not the crazy attraction you see in the books but a bit different. I worked on the US Steel ward in Pittsburgh, a forty bed unit with a large 20 bed ward, a small 10 bed one and private and semi-private rooms. The evening was one for the books. Several admissions in serious condition, some with burns from hot metal or acid. While I was busy with these, the intern, thinking he would help let a patient with metastatic cancer stand beside his bed to use the urinal. The man fell and fractured his hip. At this point I was unhappy with doctors. Denny came on the floor. He was a medical student and came to do histories and physicals on the admissions. He asked me if I would be interested in going to a party with him on Friday night. I told him to go away. No doctors, I said in a terse voice. So he left.

Several days later, I had a patient who "didn't drink" go into the DTs. He knocked the aide across the room. When he swung at me, I did a quick turn and you could hear the snap, I then limped through the rest of the evening. The next day, I saw an orthopedic surgeon who announced I had a football injury and would need surgery. I was quickly scheduled for the next day. One of my friends told Denny I was in the hospital. At 6 AM the next morning he appeared at my bedside bearing gifts, two books Hospital Humor and The Life of the Bee. Odd choice but I did read both of those books.

And that was how it began. Our first date was on Valentine's Day. We went to dinner at a place I think served Angus beef and then to the movies. Can't remember the movie's name. This is my memory for the week.

Meander 2 - Writing _ On Friday afternoon I finished the rough draft of Tainted Dreams. A fortunate happening. The final two chapters will need a lot of revamping but I'm starting the Plot draft, to make sure all is proceeding to schedule. There will be some time line things to clarify but that will happen during the draft for plot.