Category: Memoir

I HAD A DREAM

  In preparation for moving I discover the darndest things as I unpack dusty boxes stored in the attic untouched for years. This time it’s a mercury sphygmomanometer, packed in its original carton along with a “limited warranty” card that should have been filled out within ten days of purchase. Looks like I didn’t even…… Continue reading I HAD A DREAM

INVISIBLE Part 3 of 3

I trudged into the nursing station. The phone sat on an empty desk. Mary, the stocky, dark-haired charge nurse, faced the chart rack at the other end of the room. I avoided acknowledging her presence, keeping my eyes on the floor. Any word from her might shake my resolve. I stood by the desk and…… Continue reading INVISIBLE Part 3 of 3

INVISIBLE Part 2 of 3

“When did you urinate last?” Ms. O looked at me blankly. “I’m going to press over your bladder,” I said. I reached under the hospital gown and pushed over her pubic area. My fingers felt a soft swelling. Ms. O winced. “I think you’d feel better if I passed a tube into your bladder and…… Continue reading INVISIBLE Part 2 of 3

INVISIBLE Part 1 of 3

“Invisible,” by Marianna Crane, originally appeared in the Examined Life Journal.     The cardinal rule of the game is that open disagreement between the players must be avoided at all costs. Thus, the nurse must communicate her recommendations (to the physician) without appearing to be making a recommendation statement. – – – The greater…… Continue reading INVISIBLE Part 1 of 3

THERE ARE SOME PATIENTS WE NEVER FORGET

01/29/2012 BY MARIANNA CRANE When you have been a nurse as long as I have there are patients who take residence in your memories and resurface frequently. They could almost be family except they have a short history in your life. What they were like before or after you knew them usually remains a mystery.…… Continue reading THERE ARE SOME PATIENTS WE NEVER FORGET

WHAT JOURNALING WILL DO

It’s a coincidence that I wrote the last entry in my journal on February 28 at the same time I finished my book. Well, my book is not finished-finished but it’s getting its final editing—by a professional content editor—as I compose this post. I have been using a 5-subject wide-rule notebook every morning to put…… Continue reading WHAT JOURNALING WILL DO

WAITING

August, 2007 I’m anxiously awaiting the results of my daughter’s ultrasound. Last night,she dropped off our two grandsons so she and her husband wouldn’t be late for the early morning test. Rather than call us with the news, she will tie a pink or blue balloon to the mailbox. At seven and four years of…… Continue reading WAITING

WHAT DOES AGE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

I made an ageist comment. It didn’t seem ageist at the time. I was sitting in the second row of a packed room at Flyleaf Bookstore in Chapel Hill as Pat Schneider finished reading from her new book, How The Light Gets In. I came to hear Pat for two reasons. One, I wanted to…… Continue reading WHAT DOES AGE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

WRITING RETREAT

“Something looks back from the trees,/and knows me for who I am.” — American poet, Jane Hirshfield.  I spent five days at Wildacres in Little Switzerland, North Carolina at a writers’ retreat: The Powerful Narrative lead by Carol and Bill Henderson this past September. My good friend, Lois Roelofs, flew in from Chicago to join me. Without phones,…… Continue reading WRITING RETREAT