Airy Nothing Chatter

Saturday

Paul's wake/Celebration was today. I was delighted to hear the testimonials. Paul was a normal human with the flaws that go with that, but it's pretty clear he was a remarkable doctor. Both doctors and patients got up to talk about him. I knew he was good, but I didn't realize how much so. I think the story that made the most impression on me was from a local ob/gyn. He learned early that Paul would drop everything (even at 4 a.m.) to go help a patient. And when he assisted, he let the ob/gym do the main part of the surgery (while guiding and helping) and never took more credit than as an assistant. With Paul's help they saved the life of one woman, but the whole situation was (naturally) very traumatic to the woman and she fell into a deep depression and would not leave her couch. Without ever telling anyone, he went to this woman's home to encourage her. She wasn't even Paul's patient. How many doctors would do that? The ob/gyn only found out when Paul made a comment about how she was doing and he asked how he know. I get the feeling that Paul didn't think it particularly remarkable. He was just living up to the expectations he had of others. There were other stories like that from patients and a patient's husband.

The event started at 2 p.m. and we got there at about then. The first hour was mingling. Since, other than my family, I knew only about six people, that was an uncomfortable time for me. I do OK when introduced, but my shyness kicks in when I have to introduce myself -- especially when I don't have a clue who's a doctor, a nurse, a patient or just a friend. Debie introduced me when she could, but people wanted to talk to her, so everything was OK.

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