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.)