Friendship

It has been a privilege to take this recent trip to the East Coast. There have been many highlights. The people I know, those who I have met, and that lovely group of people, familiar because of web interaction, and whom I now know in person, are right there at the top of my list of highlights.
The top of the list is a crowded space. Receiving my FAMWA degree (Fellow of AMWA) from the American Medical Women's Association is truly a great honor.

The experiences I have had visiting art shows at some our nation's great institutions have not only been educational; but they have also been emotionally moving experiences, as well. Seeing friends honored at the meeting and getting to know friends better has been great. Mini Murthy MD, you do so much good through the UN and so deserve the Elizabeth Blackwell Award. Mary Guinan MD, it was a delight being part of the FAMWA Award class of 2016 with you. Every success on your terrific new book, Adventures of a Female Medical Detective.

Kathryn Ko MD, I loved visiting your studio in Manhattan and our cozy chats. Diana and Emilio, thanks for the experience of Miami Cuban culture. Susan, friend for almost 50 years, wonderful to share time, friends, good food and great art with you. Gretchen, thanks for the Manhattan experience. Meeting you, along with Debbie, Helen, Betsy, Paula and Jennifer in Boston was fantastic! The city experiences amazing, and the Get It Scrapped team-building was perfect!

This post is one of many blog posts that sit in my pending file. Too many things are going on, like Cal, my husband, always says of me - "organized chaos." I do not like the feeling of being "behind." I view this blog as a sort of diary of life and as a place where folk I know or who are interested in my life can visit. If I do not write with regularity, so much gets left out. As a scrapbooker and memory keeper, I know that one cannot include everything. Some left out parts are simple editing, some moments are too painful, but some is just because I have not made sufficient time to document the moments.
Life is busy for all of us. I also have this addiction to learning things. Laura Gardner, exploring the Periscope app with you was a delight. Our young women medical students are so bright and talented and helpful. My interactions with them have me confident in medicine's future. Fatima Fahs and Shilpa Darivemula are two more students with whom it has been a great honor to work.

This trip gave me a lot of material for future scrapbook pages. Travels, friends, those darling young family members, and my silly and fun husband and sons, there is much to document. It's hardest to record the desperate things - dealing with aging, loss, anger and sadness. Some folks think it is better to gloss over those parts or ignore them. I am uncertain, as it is all part of a legacy. As I am getting older, I wonder what the future would want to know about me. Future historians will want to know about the lives of common folk. Mine is a privileged life but not one of great fame and fortune, so I feel quite ordinary. Every time I read and study about discoveries of how families functioned, particularly the lives of women in the past, I am grateful that these things remain. If only we had a record of their thoughts and emotions through the ages, it would be marvelous.