Time was, I wanted to be a doctor. Don't remember specifically why, but I envied the old family doctor's uncanny abilities to tell what was troubling me as a kid. Good old man from Wales, father a coal-miner, who vowed his son would be better. How the son came to America is lost to history. Suffice to say, that, as a 5 year-old who had observed city workmen open up a manhole sewer in the middle of our street, for some reason, I sought to match their work. A manhole existed out in the front lawn of a neighbor, a few doors down, which could be messed-with, I knew, without being out in the street. A neighbor kid, 4, I recruited to lever a broom handle in the "keyhole" of the cast iron cover, to raise it up a few inches, as I had observed the workers to do. He easily raised the cover up enough for me to stick my thumb, right hand, under the rim. Then, he dropped his hold on the "pry-bar", for reason unknown, and the cover sank back into place, crushing my thumb as I yanked it free. A trail of blood and screaming in pain preceded me to our back steps. My Mother, ever conscious of potential trouble with a young rapscallion wrapped a handkerchief around the mangled thumb, called the kindly old doctor, and he told her he had an office full of folks awaiting help. He was at our house, a drive of about 30 minutes, less than an hour later. The importance of understanding the details here, is, the doctor dropped the lesser medical problems in favor of the more serious one. There was no "911". Ambulances were rarely seen rushing about, as they are today. That same doctor delivered me into this world, as well as my first-born nephew when I was 5, and the second when I was 9. The compassion this man had for his patients is seemingly unmatched today. He greatly helped my Father later, who was experiencing stomach trouble. Tall, thin, soft-spoken, but almost grimly resolute in his delivery, old Doctor Davies was one of my favorite early figures in life. FS
This thread reminds me of my mother who seemed to be obsessed with doctors. There were times that we would catch her talking to strangers and saying she has 2 doctors in the family, sometimes 3 doctors. We really don't know why she was bragging that lie to people. When a medical student started courting my older sister, you can guess what to expect. My mother would be entertaining the guy and even serving him snacks. And as the years passed, the guy passed the board exams and became a licensed physician. They got married, my sister and the doctor. My mother was hit a stroke 5 years ago and is now paralyzed and bed-ridden. She is staying my sister's house and being taken care of by my nurse sister with her physician husband
I still remember my first doctor Dr Livingston he was a good doctor with good bedside manner. My health was bad when I was young and visited the doctor often but most times he would check me out go into the back room and mix up a concoction and give it to my mother and if I needed a drug he would give her any samples he had the last thing would be a prescription. He made many house calls. Even though I liked that doctor he never figured out what was causing all my medical problem and it was not until I was in my 60s before I found out.
@Corie Henson , that's funny about your mom, but lots of mothers wanted their daughters to marry a Doctor. I don't think my mom cared too much that my youngest sister married a doctor, my sister has a PhD in drug research but isn't working now. My mother also lives with my youngest sister and her son in law the doctor which came in pretty handy this last episode since he was home when it happened. He works in ER so his hours suck which is the bad part of being a drs wife, unless of course you have regular office hours. Their oldest daughter, my niece is in college now and is studying to be a doctor.