55 Year Reunion ~ A Story Space

Tiny nurses caps made by
one of our classmates

A really vibrant story space! We were and still are so fortunate to have been one of the 'three year classes’ to share a residence; to learn our craft; to work together and best of all to share our nursing fears and woes with each other as we learned. This weekend we have come back together to rehash so much of the past, the years in-between and being present with one another again. Tonight we shared a fine dining experience that would have been impossible on the pittance we received in training. To top the evening off our maitre de asked us for a song he had been told we all knew. Poor man blushed when we sang the whole song beginning with “We are the General girls, we wear our hair in curls…….” The ending is not particularly polite ~ not bawdy, just not polite in today’s world. A bit of stumbling over the second verse, but we did remember it as children remember nursery rhymes.

“I have never had a problem or worry, either big or small, that couldn’t be 

made better by meeting with a girlfriend and talking about it over coffee.”

~Tilda Shalof, The Making of a Nurse

Reunion Fellowship

Regina General Hospital to the right
Nurses Residence at the back

Faces unchanged but still the same ~

conversation flowed like pebbles along a shore telling of

exploits and experience wrapped in the warmth of fellowship

while photos and yearbooks examined for classmates we miss, memories of rigid or kind instructors, student pranks and residence life.

At the buffet line, the bubbling chatter merely slowed.

“We all take different paths in life but no matter where we go, 

we take a little of each other everywhere.”

~ Tim McGraw

Where Nurses Come From

Nursing is not a solitary task. We must find a place of solitude when creating relationship with our patients, while remembering the demands and exceptions of the outside world. Before the work and soul of nursing, we were girls and young women. In nursing education before the 1970’s in Saskatchewan, we entered a three year diploma program. We lived 300 strong in a Nurses Residence, rooming with a stranger following the same path. We learned about physicians and the power they held, and had to learn our own place in health care. We learned about medicines and surgeries, wheelchairs and dietary restrictions. We wore starched uniforms and caps; black stockings in First Year and white stockings after successful completion of that first terrifying, exciting First Year. The shoes! Very sturdy and boring. Definitely not dancing shoes, but serviceable. Our white, starched and very annoying, caps: no band in First Year or Second Year; a blue band in Third year. Many of the procedures and equipment are pieces of history now. What is the same is that sick and injured people need the care that nurses give 24/7, no matter the staffing shortages, pandemics, or tragedies. 

Most, if not all, of our class of 1968 have retired; we have lost too many over the years to the illnesses we have all cared for. Some of these young girls, now older women, are gathering this weekend for our 55th Class Reunion. Those lost to us will be sadly missed. Those not attending due to distance or circumstance will also be missed. Yearbooks and mementos always bring forth memories to compete with good food, many tears and a lot of laughter. 

“Panic plays no part in the training of a nurse.”

~ Elizabeth Kenny

Chapter Two, Episode 153 - Joining Forces - Situationally Theirs

Dez and Matt had hired pickers this year for both apple crops. Matt hired the transient pickers every year, most of the time the same family came through. A husband and wife team were the first to the orchard to get organized and started. Then there was two men from the mainland, who came to the Island for their working holiday every summer. After that there were different people that drifted from orchard to orchard on their way to somewhere. Dez and Em had talked about the finances that were stretched on the Estate. Most of the reason were the increase in taxes that were draining the funds available to Emelina. Dez and Matt had put their heads together and decided to join forces for the apple crops. He delivered to B.C. Fruits every year and had asked Dez if her sister was aware of that avenue. Anything he could, he donated to the Food Bank or a shelter; whoever was in need. 

For now, the pickers were to be housed in the trailers and bunkhouses that Matt had on his property. They had just finished work for the day at the Estate and had returned to their home base on Matt’s farm. Dez and Matt were leaving the orchard when they saw Samuel come from the kitchen looking downcast. Matt called out to him “Skies finally cleared, Samuel! You going home?” Samuel, lost in thought, almost didn’t hear his friend. “Nope. Thought I just stay out here in the cool. Just met with Miss Em and James. They were talking about money things. I needed to come out where I can breathe. You and Miss Dez? Finished for the day?” He wasn’t really wanting any company, but couldn’t refuse this couple. “Yeah, we finished up. Did you see our pickers today? It was their first day here. I think they did a pretty fair job.” When the two men started talking, Dez just backed off. “I’m going up to the house and ask Em what she knows about B.C.Fruits. You two talk what you like to talk about.” She chuckled. “The land and growing things.”

~~~~~

“Hi Cook, isn’t it time for you to be finished up?” Elizabeth was getting her kitchen tidied up. “I’m a little late tonight. James and your sister just finished up a meeting, Martha’s around here some place. Probably still in her office. It’s felt pretty busy this evening. Have you had supper?”

Emelina and James came out of his office, still talking quietly. “Don’t you worry Miss Emelina. We’ll figure something out to keep this old place going and keep the tax man happy.” He locked his office door, turned and saw Dez. “Here’s your sister Miss Em. You talk to her about your worries.” Emelina looked at him, a question on her face. “You know. Sister talk…not that I know much about that.” He laughed and almost patted her on the shoulder. It was not something that James Digby, the butler, would do, no matter how much affection he felt for his employer. 

Martha appeared from her office, sweater on, ready to leave for the day; Elizabeth turned off the light over the stove, also ready for home and quiet. “James, good. You’re ready to go. We can walk home together. It’s still light enough for Elizabeth to get to her place. Too bad Samuel has already left, he could have seen her home.” Dez interrupted. “Oh, he’s still out there and with Matt. They’re talking farming and orchards, probably in the same place I left them.” Dez walked to the back door with them. “I’ll turn off the lights when I go. I’m going to stay here for a bit and talk with my sister.” 

~~~~~

All the while, Emelina had been quiet. She sat at the table looking quite lost and almost sad. “What is it, Em? Talk to me.” Emelina just looked up at her sister, her eyes a bit too moist. Dez wouldn’t have believed her if she said nothing was wrong. “I have failed Michael, Dez. I’ve failed James and Martha and Cook. I’ve failed you.” Now her cheeks were streaked with wet. Dez grabbed her a tissue from the counter. “What are you talking about!? Failing? You? What on earth did you and James talk about that’s got you so upset?” She waited while her sister sobbed quietly into her tissue. Taking a deep breath, she said “I haven’t managed the money for the Estate and now we’re in trouble.” Dez let out a short sigh, not sure what to say but knew she needed to say something. “Has James talked with the accountant - I don’t remember his name - Gerald something - and the financial advisor. His name is……Green….Ron Green. Has James talked with them?” Emelina looked annoyed. “Of course he has. That what we talked about. We’ve just been going along like the money Michael left me was never ending. But interest rates and the market - all things I don’t know a thing about. I have to trust them to steer me in the right direction. But with things as erratic as they’ve been…….and I'm sorry Dez that I snapped at you.” She stopped and hung her head. “It's ok, Em. I don’t know how much this will help but Matt and I have been talking about selling our fruit. I know it’s not the greatest yet but we’re working with the trees now. They had been left alone for a long time. What do you know about B.C.Fruit? That’s where Matt sells his apples. I’m going there tomorrow to see how we can work with them for selling our apples. Right now, we’ll just sell our apples at the Farmer’s Market. If we make enough to support the orchard, that will take some burden off the Estate.” She wanted to talk more about another idea she had. Selling apples at a sort of Fruit stand on the property, and their honey and any produce from the garden. She thought it best to leave that for later. For now, she just needed to take care of her big sister. “Come on, I’ll get you upstairs where it’s your own space and you can rest. I’ll call Matt and tell him where I’ll be for a while.”

“We don’t even know how strong we are until we 

are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.”

~ Isabel Allende

Have a Good Day!!

I have depended on Transit Systems, in Victoria and now in Regina since 2017 and have appreciated all the men and women behind the wheel. Not everyone is cheerful and welcoming, but I don’t think that’s part of their job description. There are the singers, the radio listeners, the stoic quiet ones, and the cheerful ones. I don’t always know who will be behind the wheel on any given day. But I do have a favourite driver on the route I use the most often.

On my way to my appointment today, the bus was 15 minutes late. There’s lots of reasons for buses to be late, but I still get quietly annoyed. On my way home three hours later, I sat at the bus stop, hoping that the bus would be on time. I was tired with a load of groceries. I kept checking my phone for the time and the road for my bus, certain it would be late. 

My phone said I still had four minutes to wait. I looked up and there, in the distance, making the turn onto Albert street was…..you guessed it……..my bus! Early! My tiredness vanished. It had to be my favourite driver and it was. Always a big smile and a welcome. To everyone that comes on the bus....everyone. And that’s not all. Everyone that exits the bus hears her call out: "Have a Good Day!!!"

“Everyday make it a point to be the reason for someone’s smile.”

~ Trishna Damodar, author

Such a Thing

Sorting, wondering

trying to drag a story onto the page; 

all the words separate and set adrift 

after a weekend of wording and sorting

and a day of restoring my home ~ 

no longer any purchase in story or song

pausing in their flight to rest til tomorrow.

“I tell my students there is such a thing as ‘writer’s block’, 

and they should respect it. It’s blocked because 

it ought to be blocked, because you haven’t got it right now.”

~ Toni Morrison

In the Company of Writers

Yesterday, wasn’t all tea and goodies for me. After leaving Government House, I joined a writing companion at Tuppenny Coffee and Books (@tuppenycoffee) at 1433 Hamilton St. This great little coffee shop is the sister location to The Penny University Book Store on 13th Ave here in Regina. Different members of the Queen City Write Club had been at Tuppenny Coffee since 10am, spelling each other off. The event? A Write In sponsored by Tuppenny Coffee. We were there to answer questions about our little group, and to do what we do on Sunday afternoons ~ work on our various writing projects. We chatted with people interested in our group, in writing or just curious. We provided great fridge magnets that are pictured in this blog post as we visited.

That takes me up to today. The Queen City Write Club met at our usual time of 1 pm on Sundays at the Penny University Book Store on 13th Ave. We were all focussed on shaping and putting together our writing projects. A writer’s life is pretty solitary when it is just pen to page. Doing the work of corralling all those words is so much better when in the company of other like minded writers. It is too easy to be distracted by food, laundry, going outside……anything. Heads down, fingers tapping away, pauses while stray thoughts are reined in, it can get pretty silent. Doesn’t stop any of us from asking a question of the others - another benefit of working in a group setting. 

It’s been a busy weekend. Ice cream on the way home was my reward!

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

~ Ernest Hemingway