The NURSES!!

It's been 40 years since we graduated from nursing school. (OK, so I was very young then...which means I'm very young now. Deal with it).

This last weekend was our class reunion. Out of a graduating class of 53, 22 attended -- most of us from the midwest, but from as far west as Portland, Oregon, as far east as Raleigh, NC -- as far south as GA, from the southwest -- Phoenix, AZ -- and one from Germany.

We had an amazing time together -- mostly hanging out and sharing about our lives, our work, our families, our grandbabies....

Becky has been persistent at keeping our class together -- yearly newsletters and reunions every 5 years, making this our 8th get together. Mary (with husband Jim) does the photography and puts together our little remembrances. This year was a gorgeous magnet with our class verse -- Deuteronomy 31:6 -- "Be strong and of good courage; fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God goes with you; he will not fail you nor will he forsake you." What do I do, you ask? As someone once pointed out, I fill up the spaces inbetween the important things that are said...and I'm the writer. Guess they go hand in hand. This year, Cindy joined us in reunion planning - she made phone calls, sent e-mails, and worked on the centerpieces with Mary.

Jim took our photo on Saturday night out in one of the lobbies of Pheasant Run where we were meeting. The elevator door opened and a man exited with his wife. "Oh look!" he cried, "It's the NURSES!!" And he took our picture as well.

At the 35th reunion, Becky, Mary and I worked at scanning pictures and put together a powerpoint (OK, MARY put it together) complete with music which started with pictures from our three years at WSH, then moved on to pictures from each of the reunions. Mary updated it for this reunion -- it was wonderful. True confession -- we have changed just a little bit in 43 years!!

There is nothing more solidifying or bonding than a three year, diploma nursing program where you live, work, eat & play together at the hospital. Most of us came from outside IL, including 8 from outside the US, so we didn't have the opportunity to go home frequently -- and that bonded us together even more closely.

It's really evident when we meet at these reunions.

God continues to be faithful -- and he is good -- through the hard times...through the bad times....and through the good times.

Great is His Faithfulness!!