Flashback Friday: Take This Job and Blog It!

This prompt was practically impossible to write! Too many prepositions! I hope it is clearer than mud!

What did you want to be when you grew up? Why did you want to be that, and did you do it? Did you consistently plan to be whatever it was, or did you change your mind often? Did you do anything like volunteering or interning to give you a taste of your future occupation/role? Were you as happy/satisfied with what you became as you thought you would be? What surprised you? Would you choose it again? Do you still want to be something else - either in addition to or instead of?

I don't really remember why or when I decided I wanted to be a nurse. I just knew that I did and I was steadfast about it from the time I was in elementary school. I briefly toyed with the idea of teaching, primarily after I had such a wonderful English teacher my junior year in high school. But even that couldn't sway me from my goal.

I absolutely loved and devoured every Sue Barton book I could find. It's funny that one of my favorites was Sue Barton: Visiting Nurse, and I eventually ended up in Home Health!

And then there were the Cherry Ames books! They always included a mystery as well as the details of her nursing career. I loved reading them, too. I read books from both of those series multiple times. Just typing it makes me want to find one and read it! Even now, I still love medical fiction, especially that written by Christian authors Harry Kraus, Candace Calvert, and Hannah Alexander.

Once I turned 14, I became a candystriper. If my scanner were hooked up, I would post a picture of me in my uniform and cap - that had two stripes, I think: one for each 100 hours I worked. Most candystripers just delivered mail and filled water pitchers. I was very fortunate to be work on the OB/GYN unit with a wonderful group of nurses who knew my goals and taught me to take pulses and a variety of other things. I went to the hospital any time they and my mom would let me. I remember walking out of that hospital for the last time as we were about to move and feeling like I was leaving a part of myself!

I also was an Explorer Scout for a year and got to volunteer in the emergency room of that same hospital. I saw some pretty gross things, but it only heightened my interest.

It always puzzled me and made me a bit sad that my mom never took me very seriously. She figured that I saw it as a romantic occupation and a way to meet and marry a doctor. (I never wanted to marry a doctor. I knew the demands on their time!) Why she thought that, as much as I did at the hospital, is beyond me. Moms are supposed to believe in you and say you can be anything you want to be! But I will never forget overhearing her tell her best friend on the phone when I was almost through with nursing school, "I guess Linda's really going to be a nurse."

She should have known; she was the one who told me about the lady who destined me to be a nurse when I was just a tiny baby! As I've mentioned in past posts, my siblings were 11, 9, and 7 when I was born. I was not a surprise, and everyone was excited about the baby. (Once my brother quit crying because I wasn't a boy!) Anyway, this lady from church came to see my mom shortly after she brought me home from the hospital. The lady thought it was such a shame and felt sorry for my mom, that she had to start over with a baby when she had the older kids. She tried to "cheer up" my mom (who didn't need cheering!) and said with a sigh, "Well, maybe she'll grow up and become a nurse and take care of you when you get old."

My mom and I laughed a lot about that, but when I was in the midst of caring for her, there were days I didn't think it was very funny!

I enjoyed working as a nurse as much as I expected. Surprisingly, the area I dreaded the most early in nursing school was the surgical/post-surgical aspect, and that ended up being my favorite! I don't care for orthopedic surgical care, but I love any surgery that involves the torso! I love IV's, dressings, drainage tubes, etc. Yeah, I know I'm weird!


When I was working night shift the first two years after I graduated, I remember each Wednesday night watching St. Elsewhere right before going to work! Later I loved Chicago Hope and ER, until ER made me weary with their liberal agendas and portrayals.

The only thing I ever wanted to be more than a nurse was a wife and mom. I wanted to be the traditional cookie-baking, room-mother mom. As much as I enjoyed my nursing career, I was (and still am!) ecstatic to be able to stay home with my kids, and I don't miss my job at all. Being a mom has been everything I expected it to be, with one exception: I didn't know the years would pass so quickly!

So that's my flashback; what about yours? Post your memories on your blog and link up here!