NOTES FROM THE FRIDGE
OPERATION SCRUBS The Making of a Nurse
by PAMELA JANE NYE
S ome things in the world are natural ( trees , mountains , water , air and some things are man-made ( bridges , clothing , houses , ships ). Some people are natural born as in birthright due to the place of one ’ s birth , e . g . natural born American . Sometimes a religious tenet determines who you are ; for example , Buddhists believe you are a reincarnation from a previous life . They believe your birthright is predetermined by a prior ancestor who led a good life . Others believe your genetic mapping determines who you are at a cellular or molecular level . Yet others believe a person to be a blank slate upon which the parents write – and these writings determine the psychological destiny of a child ( nature vs nurture ).
No matter your beliefs , I believe who we are is a combination of all things , including life experiences . My earliest memories , admittedly spotty , are of my small , 3-member family mostly having wiener roasts at the Pacific Ocean beach over an open fire in Seattle , Washington . My mom , a stay-athome-mom , wore an apron and housedress every day ; sometimes she had pin curls in her hair . Fast forward to age 5 , to the day my father died from a heart attack he suffered at work . Shielded from the ugliness of death , funerals , and graves , my family didn ’ t allow me to see the death process . As a result , I always halfway expected my dad to walk in the door one day . It didn ’ t happen .
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