Good Karma

I have done my good deed for the year. And it's an interesting story.

Last week, out of nowhere, I got a phone call.

"This is Amy McGowan, Assistant District Attorney in Douglas County. Is this B. P., the nurse?"
"Yes. Can I help you?"
"Did you work in the Emergency Department in September 1995?"
"Wow, that was a long time ago, but yes, I did."

She went on to ask if I recalled a certain patient, the victim of a rape, that I had taken care of...as it happens, it was the first rape victim I had ever taken care of, and I DID remember her.

Well, it seems that we did slides of body fluids which went to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's DNA data base, and we then put into the national data base, Codus (spelling?). Now, 13 years later, a miscreant in California was arrested, and low and behold, his DNA turns up in our little case--well, come to find out not just ours, but THREE rape cases in KS. And KS has this interesting law that says if the perpatrator of a crime leaves the state, the clock on the statute of limitations stops until he returns to the state. So, the creep was extradited back to KS, and now is on trial for rape in Douglas County. And it just so happens yours truly was the RN who took the samples and sent them to KBI and the lab which were used to find this guy. The ADA wanted me to testify to the fact that I did indeed obtain those specimens, handled them according to procedure, and did my job right.

I was delighted to help.

So, last Wednesday, I went to Lawrence, took the stand in the trial and told them the truth. I was the examining nurse, I took these specimens, I handled them properly and sent them to the proper place. I was happy to do my civic duty.

Today, someone from the DA's office called me and said that worthless scum had been CONVICTED of SEVEN counts of rape, and will be sentenced next week.

So, because I did my job 13 years ago, and did it right, he got caught. And at least partially because I was able to testify to those facts, he was convicted of his crimes.

I did my good deed for the year, I'd say. And I was happy to do it. We are all the safer for the DA in Lawrence. And that is such a good thing.

Too Close For Comfort

I have come uncomfortably close to death several times thus far in my life, but my most recent brush was one too close for comfort.

I once was nearly killed in a car accident that actually never happened. Before we were married, my husband, then boyfriend, and I were in a car, crossing an intersection and someone ran a red light, and missed us by literally a hair. As I saw the car speeding toward us, I knew we were going to die, but miraculously, Randy hit the gas and the speeding car missed us completely. I was terrified.

When we had our house fire in 2002, if Mom had not awakened me, alerting me to the fire, we would have died in our sleep. The fire crept across the attic, the ceiling would have collapsed and we would have died in our beds.

But more recently, I entered the hospital for a right total knee replacement. During my recovery, I evidently came very close to respiratory arrest, saved by an attentive physical therapist. I had stood at the bedside and laid back down, I still had the epidural in place, and I remember laying back and sort of fading out.

The next thing I remember was being jostled awake and told I was being transferred to ICU, and someone came in and told me they thought I had stopped breathing. There was a theory that I had too much narcotic and stopped breathing, so they shut off my narcotic epidural, and the pain in my knee came back with a roar. They kept telling me I couldn't have anything, and it was excruciating. Over the next several days, it became obvious that I had been left alone, for over 2 hours and somehow the head of the bed was flattened, and I slowly began to stop breathing. If it wasn't for the physical therapist checking on me, I am sure I would have died.

It's really all a blur, but I am so glad just to have survived that hospitalization. The care was horrible. I cannot believe it was that bad, but it was. It will be quite some time before I get the 2nd knee done, and it sure won't be at Olathe Medical Center.

Remembering Mom

The loss of my mother has been very hard for me. I was an only child, and my father died when I was nine, so it me and Mom against the world, always. She was a wonderful mother, who taught me that there is nothing out of reach if you are willing to work hard. She taught me the value of education. She taught me what unconditional love is really all about and was an example of kindness, patience and humor. There is a huge hole in my heart and life, and I miss her every day. She was SO proud of me, and SO proud of my children. They were the greatest joy of her life, as they continue to be the greatest joy of my life every day. She was never hesitant to tell us all how much she loved us.

This is a brief eulogy we read at her memorial serivce:

Mary Louise “Billie” Noble -- Nov. 29, 1919 to Nov. 29, 2007

Before we begin, we want to thank each of you for coming to join us this evening. Mom's passing was sudden, even though she was 88, she was in good health, and we feel very blessed that she was not ill, and did not suffer. She was loved and cherished by many people in her life, and our family will miss her.

Mary Louise Noble, known by her many friends and family as "Billie" was born in Farnam, Nebraska, on November 29, 1919 to Virgie Spangler Crossgrove and Merle Crossgrove. She was their second child; however, her older sibling, a boy, named Vernon, and had died at 4 days of age.

She grew up on the farm in the 1920's with no electricity, running water or indoor toilets. She suffered a severe injury to her knee at the age of 2, and her parents feared she would never walk without a crutch. Her doctor wanted to break her leg and re-set it, but her mother intervened and refused to let him do it, instead doing her own version of physical therapy and encouraging Billie to walk. With the help of a tiny chair, built by an uncle and a large gray tabby cat on whom she leaned, she learned to walk again and even to run.

Her sister was born when she was four, and they have had a close relationship throughout their lives. One very vivid memory she often told of was when she and her sister, Dorothy, were walking home from school and Billie threw a lunchbox at her, causing a cut on Dorothy's head, which bled and bled. Of course, Dorothy was upset and crying, and covered in blood. Billie said her mother was so frightened by the blood that she never even was punished for her misdeed. Of course, she never threw anything at anyone ever again!

She loved school and did very well. She had a love of reading from a very early age, and although was only allowed to finish the 8th grade of formal education, continued to read nearly everything she could throughout her life. She would often go to the library and come home with 5-6 books and have them all read in 2-3 days. And one of her favorite presents was a gift card for Border's, since she really enjoyed spending money on a good book. She love biography and history, and even collected cookbooks and bibles.

She grew up during the "Great Depression" and the dust bowl of the 1930's, and her parents struggled to get by. They grew a lot of their own food and Grandma Crossgrove sold eggs in town for extra cash. Billie left home at the age of 17, in 1937, and moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she got a job as a maid and governess for a wealthy family. She made $6.00/week, and sent $4/week home to the farm. She took care of the children, cooked and cleaned and had Sunday's off. At one point, she got appendicitis, and had to have surgery--that was the only time she cut back on the amount of money she sent back home, since she had to pay her hospital bill.

It was in Lincoln she met Vivion O. Noble, and fell in love. World War II was raging, but the US was not yet fully involved. Vivion moved to California to find work, and Billie followed, staying with her future sister- and brother-in-law, Genevieve and Jim Whitmer, until she and Viv were married on November 2, 1944. She worked for the telephone company and was chief operator when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7. She recalled how the switchboard "lit up like a Christmas tree" as many people tried to call friends and family in Hawaii, and told the operators the terrible news about the bombing.

She continued to work for the phone company, and Viv worked for the engineering firm, Bendix. Briefly in 1952 they returned to Nebraska, thinking they might farm, but it quickly became obvious they would not make a go of farming on 160 acres, and they returned to Los Angeles, Viv returning to his job at Bendix and Billie, being pregnant at the time, stayed home to raise their daughter, Barbara, born November 7, 1952. In 1956, she and Viv opened their home to a young Hungarian refugee, Sandor Osvath, who came to learn English and loved their home so much, he stayed for 4 years, and became their "adopted" son.

Motherhood was the greatest joy of her life, and she made a beautiful and loving home for her family. On December 22, 1961, her husband, Viv, died suddenly of a blood clot to the lung, leaving her alone to care for her young daughter. She opened an Antique Shop, but as she often said, she wasn't a very good at dickering, and it was not successful. Billie and Barbara moved to New York, to be closer to Billie's sister and her family, and then, after her Father became ill in Nebraska, they moved to Kearney, Nebraska to be closer to her aging parents. For the next several years, she and Barbara spent every weekend in Gothenburg, helping her parents with shopping, household chores and laundry. After Billie's father died, her mother moved to a retirement apartment in Kearney. Billie also helped care for her Aunt, Nora La Bounty, who lived in a nursing home in Kearney in her later years as well. In Kearney, Billie worked for the Nebraska Book Company, and managed their very successful college book store first in an off-campus location called the College Book Store and Market, and then on-campus as the Antelope Book Store. She retired from there in 1987 after 23 years of service.

Barbara married Randall Parker December 2, 1971, and they have 3 children, Erik, Elinor and Ethan. Billie often said her grandchildren were the "frosting on the cake", and she was devoted to them. After her retirement, Billie moved to Lawrence, KS to be closer to her family and grandchildren. She soon moved into the Parker household and has been there ever since, managing the household and caring for her family. She was tremendously proud of her family, and supported and encouraged them to follow their dreams throughout their lives. Since her own education had been cut short, and she often felt handicapped by her lack of education, she strongly believed encouraged and supported her family's educational goals, and was tremendously proud that they all graduated from college(except for Ethan, who is still going to college!).

She loved animals, and was never without a dog or cat and usually more than one of each. She especially loved Siamese cats and dachshund dogs, and owned a number of each throughout her life. She was quite a collector, and had collections of many types--she collected coins, violets, doxie dogs, Siamese cats, Tea Leaf Ironstone China, cookbooks, Santas, and bibles. She loved to cook and made the best apple pie on earth. We joke that in her later years she took up furniture breeding, because it seemed like every time we turned around, she had another piece of furniture in the house to stick in a corner somewhere. But she did love and collect antiques.

She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and regularly attended meetings until recently, when it was too difficult for her to sit for long periods of time.

Billie will always be remembered by those who love her for her warmth and kindness, her strength of character and devotion to her family. We will miss her every day.

In Memory

Please go to  http://spinster2000.blogspot.com/ to see a wonderful video that my daughter put together for Mom. I have remarkable children, and so very much is thanks to my wonderful Mom.