The other day I got a friend request on facebook. Now, I appear on facebook but do not use it that often.

I had absolutely no idea who this person was. The name did not ring a bell at all, so I simply ignored the request.

And then a couple days later I get a phone call, and on the caller ID is the same name.

Hmmm... so what is this all about? Obviously they must have the wrong person, or so I thought.

And then when she addressed me by my maiden name and told me her maiden name, it all came together in an instant!!!

Nancy's face popped in my mind, but it was how I remembered her from 48 years ago.

You see... she went through nursing school with me at Chestnut Hill School of Nursing in Philadelphia.

I could not believe she had found me in her search for all the classmates as we approach our 50th anniversary.

We chatted for a bit and so many memories came flooding back to me. Sadly, the school of nursing is no longer in existence nor is our old dormitory. I have not been back since graduating.

I look at the cost of education today and am overwhelmed with the debt that students must deal with to get an education, and when they graduate, there may not even be a job available.

Way back then, as I remember it, nursing school cost $300/year (and I got a full scholarship) but had to pay for books and uniforms. What a deal!!!

Those three years of education gave me a career that lasted a lifetime and allowed me to be the major breadwinner in the family and to put my children through college and to come out without debt.

Nursing is a career that can take you in so many directions and as a hospital nurse,

I was regularly updated with education at the hospital's expense for the most part, as technology changed and nurses' responsibilities and knowledge base changed.

I chose the path of critical care and indeed ICU's were just opening as I was graduating,

so that meant an intensive introduction to cardiac monitoring and then physical assessments as well as new bedside skills.

But... I lost touch with those I went to school with. Life was busy with many new challenges as well as major life changes.

I married, started a family, lost my mother who was my rudder in life, and developed a love for photography.

I loved to cook and entertain and moved to the country where I spent a lot of time outside in the garden.

I became an avid collector of things I loved by going to yard sales and flea markets.

Life was never dull. And I worked through it all.

But suddenly, those student years came to mind. Nancy told how nervous and afraid she was entering school, and more than likely, we all were. It was so new and different.

I remember the night before leaving for nursing school, my mother and I sat down at the table. She lit a couple candles and we had tea and doughnuts together.

I was so nervous about it all that I vomited and had diarrhea. What a horrible beginning to the rest of my life.

As I remember it, there were initially about 40 gals in our class... and no guys.

Male nurses were still not very common at that time and as we had heard, a number of gals dropped out of nursing school early on.

You see, while other kids our age were going to class and partying, we were dealing with something very different... something that I refer to as the 3 D's... disability, disease, and dying.

We were a bunch of 18 year old kids trying to come to grips with these most serious of issues in life.

One of my scariest assignments was my first time to go on a nursing floor in the hospital and to take a patient's vital signs

(blood pressure, pulse, respirations, temperature), talk with them, and give them a backrub. I was a nervous wreck!!

And the first time I had to give a bedpan and my first time caring for a comatose patient... major accomplishments not to mention all the tubes in every orifice!

Is it any wonder that some decided that nursing was not for them?

Through it all, we came to rely on each other to get through the difficult times, and there were plenty of them. Lots of laughs and lots of tears.

My roommate, Joan, (we referred to as "Mother" as she seemed to be the most level-headed of the bunch of us) was the go-to person if we had a problem because we could always talk to her.

Sadly, I lost touch with her many years ago.

And then we left the security of our home hospital to go on affiliation to Philadelphia Children's Hospital (which was located in a bad part of Philly) and also on a psychiatric affiliation.
We had rotations through the operating room and labor and delivery... and we were still "just kids" but taking on a very mature role as caregiver and confidant.

Our education was heavy on the clinical hands-on part but we also had intensive classwork to learn.

Once we graduated, we all went in separate directions.
Our lives were in transition but I know for a fact, that if it had not been for the comraderie of my classmates, I might have never made it through nursing school.
So many major challenges at a time when you barely knew who you were and where your life might take you.

So it is with this in mind that I hope to connect with friends from the past to see where they have been over those 48 years.
Life is definitely an adventure and I am thankful to have had nursing as a major part of my life. After all, it has made me the person I am today, in so many ways.

This photograph was made 48 years ago but it was not until this year, 2014, that I saw it or held it in my hands for the first time.

Following my graduation from nursing school, I sent my money for the photo but never received it.

I sent letters but never heard back and then life got in the way and the years went forward.

I often thought of what this photo must have looked like as I can remember standing on the steps holding red roses and feeling so proud of my accomplishment.

It was our first time to wear our white uniforms and our school cap!

It was a very special day in my life and I had no photo to document it, and I think you know how much I love photography and the memories that a photograph can hold.

So now, in the year 2014, one of my classmates, Mary Fran, tracked down and e-mailed many of our classmates in an effort to plan a get-together after so many years.

I do remember going to one of these many years ago while I still lived in New Jersey.

Technology being what it is today, I thought I would send an e-mail to see if anyone might have a photo of our graduation day that they might scan and send to me.

Nancy e-mailed me a copy. Well, I not only got that but I also received a color enlargement from Mary Fran and a black and white enlargement from Donna!

It was like I had won the lottery! Finally, I had that elusive photo and I cannot tell you what that means to me today!

We were young, living away from home, and embarking on the education that would lead to a career to last a lifetime.
And what a bargain it was! As I remember, it cost about $300/year plus uniforms and books, and I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship!
This was a diploma school which was the most popular way to enter nursing back then, and it served us well.


While we were learning how to care for the sick, empty bedpans, take blood pressures, make beds, give a blood transfusion,
pass medications, give treatments and save lives, our friends who had gone off to college were taking courses and having parties.
Life and death were far from their thoughts, I am sure, yet it was our main focus as we came face to face with disease and how it can affect our lives.


It was this group of gals who kept me going through those three grueling years of learning and practice.
We did not have summers off but continued our education and clinical work.


We affiliated at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and that was when I was quite sure that in no way did I wish to be a pediatric nurse!
So many sick kids and distraught parents! I could not wait for that part of my educational experience to end.

I found the operating room experience to be fascinating but I wanted to work with patients who I could talk with.

Obstetrics was exciting but I missed the medical-surgical patients.

Psychiatric nursing was like stepping into another world, especially when a patient threw her milkshake at me,
accusing me of trying to poison her. Paranoia was rampant in these patients!


And through it all we remained strong as a group of gals on a mission and this photo was the culmination of that mission...
and that is why it is so important to me today.


In my 45 years of nursing, I never felt as though this beginning educational level was inadequate because I chose to practice my critical care career
at the bedside and continued learning throughout those 45 years to remain current on the technology required to deliver the care.


When I graduated, intensive care units were just beginning.
Prior to this, the sickest patients were cared for by private duty nurses.
They did not have the capability to monitor patients like today, nor did they have all the technological gadgets to go with it.
This was basic, intensive nursing care.


Following graduation, I had my first job at my home hospital, Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey.
Dr. Woske was head of cardiology and was in the process of opening our first intensive care unit and I was fortunate to be there at the very beginning.
What an exciting time it was!


We started to monitor heart rhythms, follow the potassium levels of our patients and suddenly
all of that learning of the previous three years was coming together.
I truly was able to play an important role in the health and welfare of my patients like never before,
but there was already a steep learning curve to step into the new technology and it never stopped!

And now... the rest is history!

A special thank you to all of my classmates for their support through those formative years.
I could not have done it without you!
And thank you Mary Fran, Nancy, and Donna for the photos to complete those memories I have held dear through the years.

(You will find my photo, second row from the top, and third person in from the left.)