Connie's Corner

Three is enough

Today my writers' group critique pod met. In case you don't know what this is, I belong to a local writers' group and within that group are small groups of writers (6-8) of like persuasion (memoir, fiction, children's stories, etc.) who meet at least once a month to share and critique each other's writing. Unfortunately, today there were only 3 of us. Two are on European cruises, one had an MRI scheduled, etc., etc. Sometimes this happens, but it is unusual.

When I realized only 3 of us were showing up, I thought maybe we should have cancelled, but we ended up having one of the best meetings ever. The other two are retired nurses and often write about things that happen in the operating room or "on the ward floor". Sandra is from Brooklyn and worked her early years in Bellevue. Today her story was about the first abortions performed there in the 1970s and was from a perspective that would never have occurred to me. The doctors, surgeons and anesthesiologists, complained about the minimum amount of time required for the procedure and the overwhelming number of patients they had to treat. The o.r. nurses complained about the quick turnovers they had to prepare for in the operating rooms. And then there were the "live births", the ones that weren't supposed to happen, but back then people lied or fibbed and doctors couldn't place the date like they can now. I never knew nurses could baptise and give last rites, but apparently this was routine in their training...so glad I never wanted to be a nurse. Sorry if this offends anyone. I guess I have really lived a sheltered life. It astonished me and of course there was more but I will leave it at this. Suffice it to say, I was all ears.

until next time...c