Some language has been edited out of the transcript that is not edited out of the audio. But my best plane story is when it was like the year after we graduated from college, and a friend asked me and another friend to stand up for him in his wedding, and it was in Texas. Which I'm in right now kind of ironically. And it was over Valentine's Day, and so she was living in Philadelphia at the time and I was in Grand Rapids and we we planned our flight so that we could get, have our second flights together. So like we each flew to I don't know where, Atlanta? Who knows! And then from there to San Antonio and same on the way back. So that was great, So on the way back our flight was like pretty early. So well I don't remember how we got to the airport, if our friend took us or what. And we were on a little - maybe we rented, a car because we were on a little tram from like the parking lot to the airport and we were like looking at our tickets and I said something about how we had time because our plane took off at, you know, 8:15 or something. And her ticket said, like 8:17, and she, she thought that was like, no big deal. She was like, you know, just a couple minutes difference. I'm like, there's no way it would be different if we were on the same flight, you know, like, that's weird. So I was like, "Give me your ticket." So I'm like, looking at them and comparing them and stuff. And I realize that her ticket had a different date on it and she had accidentally booked her return ticket for the next month. So Instead of February It was in March, and I just was dying laughing because it was so her, like, that's exactly something she would do. But I was also like, "Oh s***!" because now what? So we were running late that was why we were trying to see if we had enough time. So when we got there, like she went up to the desk and told him what the issue was and they were like, "Well not sure if we can get you on this flight, but we can try." And I was…

Oh, yeah, I guess, I just have a couple of examples. About a mile away from my school last winter, there was a woman who tried to do that maneuver where instead of walking to your mailbox, you pull your car beside the mailbox and then you just reach out your window and pull it  out. She did that but she accidentally drove into  kind of like a snowbank. So I stopped and dug her out. And another time, this was just shortly after that, after the snow had melted. I rolled up on someone's car who was just dead in the middle of a road, at a four-way stop. And I got out and pushed her car over to the shoulder and then left. She did have a cellphone and she, I think her boyfriend was coming or something. But those are empowering. People always say, like , you should want to help people because it feels good not because there's the hope of a reward or something and I can confirm that helping people just feels good. There's always a tendency to like, I wish I could follow up and see if everything worked out for them. But a lot of times it's just help, get back in move on with your day and hope that your generosity perhaps moved the needle, just a touch in the world toward toward it, being a better place. That said I could do it even more. I'm sure there's plenty of other ways I could help that I don't. But when you get those little tastes, you know, it kind of puts you on the lookout for more opportunities to help.

Have I ever missed a plane, bus, or a train. No, actually, I haven't. I actually haven't my, my aunt one time missed a train as she was going back down south about- we got train service at that time. She missed, She was like, she was perpetually late - my dad always said she ever had to catch and she said, "If she had a train to catch, she'd miss it!" Well doggone  she did. So, my mother and she and I got into our old - or about then it was our brand new 1966 Ford, Galaxie 500 XL with a 390, and my mom herded her to the next town, to try to catch a train, just missed the train. And so, we beat feet about 27, miles south on the next stop of the train. Hopefully, to catch the train. My mother had kind of a leadfoot and we beat the train to the next town and my aunt was a able to catch a train and progress by themselves. And so that was kind of cool. It kind of an adventure for a me as a young kid. I probably was about, I don't know, might be about twelve years old, something like that. So I thought it was kind of cool.

The day that we had our first COVID deaths at our hospital. That was a challenging day. I came in,I must have been working second shift that day. Because I came in and the nurse that I was working with had lost that first patient shortly, before I came came in. And then, during the evening, we had somebody who transferred in from one of the, the nursing homes. And was basically just there for palliative care. We knew that the nurses knew that was not somebody who was going to make it. So with the ICU rooms, we can watch the the patients stats, you know, their oxygen levels, their heart rate, blood pressure, all that kind of stuff from out in the hall at the nurses station. And I remember standing around with the nurses watching, 'cuz we knew imminently we were going to have to go in that they could see stats, steadily declining. They had paged for the doctor to come, but it was becoming clear doctor wasn't going to to make it probably in time. And I don't know the exact rules, but there was rule something along the lines that either, you know, you would have a doctor there to, to pronounce time of death or two nurses could do it, or, like the nurse supervisor with another nurse, something like that. So, we were watching the stats declining and  it was clear that doctor wasn't going to get there and the nurse that had already lost one patient earlier in the day just, was - she  we rushed to get into the room because she she didn't want the patient to to die alone. So I remember rushing to, to get her, you know, get her gowned up. Fumbling with the the gown strings because we could see the numbers going down down, getting her connected with the paper, and with her her kindness, and her compassion as she went in and sat at the patient's bedside, those last moments. So, that was not, not something I ever planned to, to be witnessing.

There were some good questions this week about theater and my thespian career. My - I mean an opportunity to talk about my, my time, as a as an actress, haha. But I sort of have this vague feeling, that I've told this story before, and to this diary, so guess I might be a little repetitive. But you know, whenever like there'd be a school type performance in like K-12- not K-12 like through through elementary school or whatever. I get, I tend to get picked for stuff like that. Or a church I should say also. Just because, mostly because I was good at memorizing lines and had a loud voice. So I mean, of course, I would get a role. But high school where, I had a, a friend, a guy, I worked with that was really into theater and he encouraged me to try out for a play. And at first, I, I think I didn't get the role. I got maybe a bit part, but whoever got the role couldn't do it. And so, I got it even though I was like only a sophomore, which was- And back then my high school started in like tenth grade. Yeah, so we didn't have freshman, freshman in high school. So as sophomore. It was young to have a lead role like that. But I did it. And it did kind of get me hooked. I really liked the camaraderie of the cast and crew working together and I think, I like the challenge of, you know, having to memorize lines and memorize blocking and stage craft and all of that. and, what really stuck with me - And I can remember all these years later, was the way we felt on opening night. At least, the way I felt on opening night because, I was so nervous. And, you know, I think there was a part of myself that was asking like, like, "Have you lost your mind? Why did you ever sign up to do this?" Because the thought of walking out on stage with all those eyes on you and you had to say, you know, the lines like they were written and move to your mark. I mean it just seemed like it was just an impossibly hard thing to do. It was terrifying and then we got through it and it went really…

Now granted it's been since high school, but yes, I have auditioned for many-a-play. I guess I'll talk about my favorite role. So my senior year of high school. I was the only senior that was involved in theater like consistently. So, I've been from freshman year on in like the spring play was always a musical and I was always in that except for, I think Anne of Green Gables, and I opted out of that and in that case, I was make-up and then I was staged crew so I always had some role but I was pretty much always on the stage. So, senior year spring- I don't remember what the fall play was, but the spring musical, they came to me and said, "what do you want? You're the only girl, you're the only senior we'll let you pick" and the sky was the limit because I went to like I said Catholic school and there's actually money in the theater department which was shocking. So I said, "I want to do Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" and they were like, "Oh, okay. Well, just let you know. It's really hard to get those plays." Well, they got it and then they made me audition for it, which was kind of funny because, like, I could sing, and they knew I could sing. And I today, I was actually singing the musical in my car, on the way to work. So that was fun for part of the, they wanted my range. So there's a few songs that they had identified. They were a couple of hymns and then they had me song Star-Spangled Banner. So I did, and that was kind of funny for an audition, cuz everyone was like, what? I didn't know, you could sing that. And then they, for a minute, wanted me to sing at the sports, but I said, "no, thanks." So I was Cinderella. And it was, it was wonderful. I had a wonderful time in that play.

Recently, I've decided that I might wanna switch to trauma surgery for that, like, high interval, high-intensity type deal, ‘cause I think that would make things exciting and being able to help people that really need it in terms of, like, right then and there would be really fun. I was with a friend of mine, I was able – on St. Patrick’s day – was able to help this girl. So to preface, this girl was very drunk. We were walking back, me and two of my other friends from where we were at for St. Patrick’s Day. And we saw her just kinda, like, laying on the sidewalk with nobody that looked – with nobody really around helping her. And she's kinda lying on the sidewalk and my friend and I kinda looked at each other and we were, like, “Okay, we got this.” And so I kinda, like, walked up to her and I was like, “Hey what your name?” She's, like, freaking out. And I'm like, okay from what I know from what Dad's taught me, from what everything that I've seen before, I need to – ‘cause there's, like, a pool of blood on the sidewalk and I can't see – her hair's like all up in her face and I'm like, I can't tell where this is coming from. So I really hope it's not her head. So I need to figure this out. So I’m like, all right. “Hey, I'm gonna need you to look at me. I know it's scary – I’m gonna need you to just look at me. It's okay.” And so she looks at me. And she's kinda looking at me and I'm like, oh my God, thank God. It's just – well, not just her nose, but her nose is a lot easier or would be – is a lot less scary than if it had been, like, a massive head injury. So I was like, first of all, I was, like, relieved, that it was literally just her nose. Her nose is definitely broken, though. But, so her nose is bleeding. And I'm like, “Okay, I just – just look at me.” And there's, like, blood everywhere. So I'm like, “Okay, just look at me,” ‘cause I’m like, if she – she's gonna, she might start freaking out. So, we're talking to the guys that were already…

I saw the prompt is musicals. And when I think of musicals, the first thing that came to my mind was The Music Man, which is my favorite musical from when I was a kid. I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of musicals in general. I like them, but I'm not a super fan as some people are. But growing up, when I was probably eight years old, I was absolutely a super fan of The Music Man. Specifically, the film from, I think it would have been the early sixties. Maybe the late nineteen fifties. No, I think it was an early 1960s movie. I don't really know why I liked it so much. I watched a lot of classic musicals growing up. I'm a big movie fan. I'm sure I'll talk about movies a lot in this diary series. But anyway, I watched a lot of like the classic fifties musicals, you know, the big Hollywood musicals when I was a kid cuz my mom really likes them, and The Music Man was my favorite one. I just really like the music in it and I would watch it almost every week, maybe even multiple times a week for a while. And I think it was mostly when I was in second grade when I watched it a lot. And the reason I remember that is because that was the year that my sister got married and I was the flower girl in her wedding. My sister is a lot older than I am. And I was the flower girl at her wedding, and the dress that I wore to be the flower girl looked a lot like Maid Marian's dress in the movie. And I would put the dress on when I watched The Music Man and I would dance around specifically to the song Till There Was You, which is my favorite song from the musical. Which is also --  there's a Beatles cover of that song as well, which always amused me. But that song was my favorite and I would dance around and pretend that I was Maid Marian. I think I just found The Music Man very romantic as a child. You know, obviously, your ideas of romance as a kid are very different than your ideas of romance as an adult, but it is still kind of romantic. It's just a…