CHANGE AND CHOICES

A MEMORABLE YEAR

Among new men, strange faces, other minds. 
                               Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)


1974-75

This year was marked by change and, without change, there is little progress.  The experience of living in a foreign country and then returning to one's home is like putting on an old sweater or pair of worn out shoes.  There was no need to try to think in French, or use currency with a King's image, or beware of driver's entering the road from your right.  The formality of avoiding calling acquaintances by their first name, or foregoing the customary handshake, or feeling like an outsider was no longer there.  it was a comfortable feeling albeit a completely different set of rules.  Schlitz, Budweiser, and Rheingold did not cut it against the Belgian beers...and we certainly missed those moules with frites.

As an Intern, I felt like part of a team that worked, socialized and ate together.  We were all in the same boat.  The cafeteria at St. Joe's was renowned for its cuisine, particularly its Italian food.  The Interns and Residents and their families would take frequent advantage of this and we would often eat together and get to know one another on a more social basis.  We would have parties when we had enough time.  During that era, physicians-in-training would often work long hours, sometimes well into the next shift, not wanting to leave the bedside of a sick patient.  Sleep was at a premium and catch as one can.  It was just what you had to do and there was no complaining.

Having a "job" now meant I got paid as well as having housing provided, a sweet proposition.  It meant there was also a designated amount of vacation time that had to be used.  That Fall, Suzanne and I decided to take a real vacation and head to the island of Bermuda with its warm and fragrant flora of azaleas and bougainvillea.  Friends agreed to take Rex for the week and we headed off, staying in a fancy hotel and renting mopeds, the preferred method of transportation around the island.  

The Sonesta Beach Hotel in Bermuda

Check out the bell bottoms and sideburns!

The hotel had nightly entertainment, sparsely attended as that time of year was not the tourist season. One night, they featured the English group, Herman's Hermits singing such popular hits as "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "A Kind of Hush".

On one of my moped jaunts around the island, as I was enjoying the scenery, a Bermudian motorcycle policeman came out of nowhere and told me to wait at the end of a long driveway until a limousine had pulled out.  As I stood there, helmet on my head, a large black sedan came down the drive and, as it slowed to pull out, I noticed and recognized the woman in the back seat, none other than Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's troubled sister.  I gave her a quick wave to which she responded by putting her nose in the air!  That evening, I read in the paper that her Royal Highness was on the island, staying at the royal residence to which that driveway belonged.

Hi, Margaret!

We also took a long weekend trip up to Deer Isle in Maine to visit Suzanne's Uncle Jack Hemenway and his wife Harriet.  Jack had been an Episcopal Priest in New England who finally left the clergy to become a talented blacksmith.  Harriet made beautiful jewelry out of silver and gold.  They were supporters of the Haystack Mountain School of the Arts on the Island besides running their own business, Green Head Forge.  Jack taught us how to eat an entire lobster, head and all, and we sampled some of the best fried clams I'd ever eaten.

Syracuse winters were not kind and I had not experienced this kind of weather since I left Canton, NY.  There were days where the snow was so intense that the hospital sent out snowmobiles to fetch the house staff or we would all pile into Mark Webster's sturdy green jeep to get to the hospital.  The hospital had to keep going despite the weather.  The dreariness of cold winter nights was relieved by social get-togethers for those of us who might not be on call, culminating in the big house staff gala party at a hotel when the attending physicians were good enough to cover the hospital.  We were all dressed up in suits and evening gowns and had a grand dinner accompanied by music and dancing.

Socializing on a cold Syracuse evening in our apartment (Theresa Pagano, Mark Webster, and Suzanne)

We lived in an apartment complex completely inhabited by young physicians and their spouses.  We had a nice two-bedroom second floor apartment with a balcony overlooking a courtyard.  One day, Suzanne and I left the apartment for a few hours, leaving Rex alone with the door to the balcony slightly askew.  When we arrived home, we heard a big hubbub in the courtyard and, running out, there was Rex, trapped, trying to climb off the balcony.  Several of my colleagues had already started a rescue mission. They formed a human tree with Don Kraitsik finally making it to the top and saving Rex from certain injury!  That was certainly a community effort!

Our apartment house, with our purple Gremlin!

Speaking of Rex, we tried his hand at fatherhood, getting him "together" with another Resident's (Bill Nauen) sweet female German Shepherd.  Rex just wasn't getting the idea of it at first and I almost resolved he'd be a celibate dog.  We even tied a red ribbon around his neck to make him more attractive.  I think we achieved success after I put a few dabs of my "English Leather" cologne on him and he and the future mom spent a few hours together in Bill's garage one afternoon.  A litter was proudly produced!

Bill Nauen, the dogs, and his garage.

As the much-anticipated Spring approached, Suzanne and I had decisions to make as to where and what we would do next.  By April, the North Vietnamese Army had captured Saigon and the war was officially ended.  I was being called weekly as well as having personal visits by the Air Force recruiter who doggedly tried to sign me up with an officer's commission and many promises of sunny climes (Guam?) if I agreed to be a GMO (General Medical Officer) which meant I would be putting everything I learned my year of internship into practice.  The other choice I had was an offer from Children's Medical Center of Akron to do a Pediatrics residency.  Pediatrics won out and I never looked back... on to Akron, Ohio at the end of June.