Slicing and Scribing

Have you ever found yourself thrown into a room of unknown faces and wondered “how will I ever survive this semester; I don’t even want to be here let alone sit next to someone that I’m not sure I will even like?”  It was the fall of 1984 and I decided it was time to return to school and finish my college education. I had put it on hold while I was raising my family. I was already working in the health care field in the medical record arena and I had no desire to provide direct patient care; the thought of someone hurling sputum at me turned my stomach.  Obtaining my degree in Health Information Management meant that I had to endure many of the same courses that nursing students suffered through as well.  This simple curriculum of having to take Anatomy and Physiology proved to be a life changing experience for me. I found a friend for life!

For the next academic year, Tuesday and Thursday evenings were dedicated to my Anatomy & Physiology courses. We had a relatively small class and, as usual, on the first class everyone took their seat that would be their “home” for the next 32 weeks. Sitting in class is very similar to the seat one takes in church. You choose a seat and no one better try to sit in it!  I chose a seat close to the door, near the back of the room. Class started promptly at 6:00 pm.

On the first night, several minutes after 6:00, the door opened and a darling little blond rushed in and took the seat next to mine.  I gave her a quick smile but being the studious student that I was, I got back to paying attention to the instructor explaining the course syllabus. I did notice, however, that the cute blond girl smelled like tacos.  The next class period, the girl rushed in again (late) and took her seat next to me again smelling like tacos.  The same scenario occurred over the next few classes but I did notice that the girl was arriving just a few minutes late rather than several.  We were making progress!  

One night on our break, the girl and I struck up a conversation by the water fountain. She told me she was a nursing student; I told her that I was studying medical record (now known as health information management). We both commented on how dreadful each other’s profession sounded. That night we were assigned lab partners and we paired up quickly.  Our project for the semester – dissect a black cat.  Are you kidding me?  Now, I’m no cat lover but I couldn’t imagine having to slice into this once living creature. The girl quickly agreed to do the slicing and I readily agreed to be the scribe  What a great team!  Our friendship began to grow and on lab nights, we would rush through our slicing and scribing and head out for a few drinks.  

We both successfully passed Anatomy and Physiology, graduated from college and followed our chosen professional paths. She's a successful nurse (I know first hand but that's a subject for another story) and I am teaching in the field of my profession.  That dreaded evening course was the beginning of a thirty year friendship. 

I wouldn’t trade this beautiful darlin’ for anything in this world. She’s been my rock but most of all, she forced me to find the fun side in me that had been buried for a very long time.  Our "first set" of children grew up together and we both went on to have a few more kids.  I love her like a sister and her children are like my nieces and nephews and her beautiful grand babies hold a special place in my heart.

You may be wondering why this beautiful girl rushed late into class for every period, nearly out of breath, and smelling like tacos? She had three small children to feed and to make sure they were properly cared for before she left home. This usually meant that she didn’t have time to feed herself. Taco Bell was on the way to the college; the nights she was only a few minutes late, the drive through wasn’t that busy!  By the way, you should have seen the inside of her car but that’s a whole other story!!!

I LOVE YOU LORI LOU!!  Aka Beautiful Darlin’