In the spring of 1968 Lee decided he wanted to go to Anesthesia School. Our plan was for him to serve his 2 years in the Army and then get out and work at a civilian hospital. At that time I disliked the military immensely. It seemed like almost every day that Lee came home from work he would have news that another guy from our group had received orders for Viet Nam. I was so afraid of losing Lee that it was a constant worry for me.
Lee had applied to The Mayo Clinic Anesthesia School, and he had received word that he had been accepted into the program. Our joy was short lived after we discovered that the stipend which the program offered was not nearly what Lee was earning at the time in the Army. There were other drawbacks to the program which were unacceptable to Lee as well. Lee had discovered that the military had their own anesthesia programs at the larger Medical Centers around the U.S. and Hawaii. I encouraged him to apply to which Lee quickly countered with, "the competition is very keen, I don't think I'd have a chance." My confidence in Lee was much stronger than his own at that time. This is one of those times when "we woman" have to stand behind "our man" and encourage him, and let him know that you believe in him one hundred percent. Admittedly though, I always knew in my heart that Lee would be accepted into the Army anesthesia Program. Therefore, when Lee received his letter of acceptance I was not one bit surprised. We had been stationed at Ft. Sill for 16 months and Lee had now been assigned to William Beaumont Army Hospital in El Paso, Texas. Just before we relocated to Texas I found out that I was expecting our third baby. We were all very happy to add another member to our family. By this time our son was 8 years old and our daughter was almost 2 years old. Fortuitously, the OB doc that I had seen at Ft Sill was also reassigned to the same hospital where Lee would be in school. Actually, by the time we moved I felt really good, the morning sickness had subsided, my energy level was high and I was excited to be part of yet another adventure with "Mr. Deisering" and company!!
The moving van showed up right on time the 1st of October,1968. The movers worked like lightning, and at the end of the day we were ready to head to Texas, minus our daughter's shoes. Remember I said early in this blog that the movers pack everything if it is not separated out. So we had to buy her a new pair of shoes before we left town.
This segment is attenuated tonight, my apologies. This has been a rather stressful day for me today. I promise to make up for it as the story picks up in Texas with our new sponsors.
Live your life to the fullest and take time to smell the flowers.
Carol
No comments:
Post a Comment