Years ago the daughter of a friend was traveling down Beltway 8 on a lovely Saturday morning when the driver of an eighteen wheeler lost control of his rig and slammed into the young woman’s car. The wreckage was horrendous and when the first responders arrived they realized that the passenger in the car was near death. They immediately requested the aid of the Life Flight helicopter which arrived quickly and then transported my friend’s daughter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. Dr. James “Red” Duke and his team were on call in the trauma center and they immediately swung into action. With a lifetime of knowledge the good doctor used his skills to virtually bring the severely injured woman back to life. Her wounds were so life threatening that in another place and time she might have died. Instead she was under the care of one of the premier trauma surgeons in the world. She lived to tell her story in spite of the odds against her survival. Continue reading “This is Dr. Red Duke”
Author: Sharron Burnett
Going Home
On the evening of October 4, 1968, I found love twice. It began with an exchange of wedding vows to Michael Lynn Burnett, my soulmate and best friend. The day ended with my first encounter with New Orleans, Louisiana, a magical place that immediately caught my fancy and burrowed into my heart just as Mike had done. For forty seven years now I have found bliss with Mike again and again, especially in the most difficult times. I have also returned to New Orleans over and over and never tire of the feeling of being in a place that somehow speaks to my very soul. I will always be a die hard native of Houston but if I ever needed a second home I suspect that I would feel as comfortable in New Orleans as I do in my place of birth. Continue reading “Going Home”
The First Days
For most people a new beginning and the opportunity for change is heralded by New Year’s Day. For me the feeling of renewal has always come with the first day of school. It is a time when everyone brandishes a clean slate and once again there is the potential to erase mistakes and to improve. Everyone shows up on day one with hopefulness, a bag full of fresh supplies, and usually a new pair of shoes. Even the teachers boast new haircuts and not a single staple is hanging from their carefully prepared classrooms. It’s truly a day of optimism when even a meltdown on Wall Street lacks the power to kill the joy.
Of course the sense of renewal and excitement is sometimes tempered very quickly. It’s easy to determine just how dedicated to learning the students will be within a very few minutes. A group that sits quietly and attentively on the first meeting has the potential to be molded and motivated. One that demonstrates its propensity for mischief from the start is more likely to require a firmer hand as the days and weeks go by. The class lists change as quickly as the weather and all of those efforts to personalize seating charts go up in flames. There never seem to be enough textbooks for each of the students no matter how well the needed numbers were considered. An experienced teacher knows how to punt because it is a rare first encounter with the students when all goes as planned. There will always be slackers who return without completed summer assignments and those who insist on challenging authority from the get go. Still the skilled teacher knows that it will be the most fun bringing around the most difficult characters. Continue reading “The First Days”
A Pensive Morning
It’s another stormy morning and as the rain comes down I find myself feeling pensive. It’s been a quiet week after my vacation. I came home tired from the long drive and never really got back into the routine of things because I was almost immediately scheduled to visit my oral surgeon to have my implant set in place. I spent time catching up on some phone calls that I had been unable to make in the mountains. One of them was to my cousin who had suddenly and tragically lost her nephew in an accident. Her beloved Chris and his wife had gone on their dream trip to the Florida Keys. One moment they were joyfully riding on a rented scooter and the next they were hit head on by the driver of a Ford Explorer. The young man died instantly. His wife was sent to the hospital in critical condition. When the calls came to the family back here in Houston there was a sense of disbelief, as though it was all somehow a terrible mistake. Continue reading “A Pensive Morning”
Thoughts on Thinking
One of the best aspects of retirement is that I am able to have lazy mornings without guilt. I appreciate the fact that I don’t have to rush around and tackle traffic on rainy mornings like this one. I stay inside sipping on my tea and viewing Mother Nature’s storms from my windows. Since it is unlikely that anyone will unexpectedly come to my door on a day like today I am able to linger in my pajamas a bit longer than I would if I had places to go and things to accomplish. It’s nice to be able to peruse the online news sources and to get up to date information on the weather. Since I had oral surgery just yesterday I am supposed to take it a bit easy for another twenty four hours or so. Luckily I don’t have to feel compelled to rush off to a job with my pain medication tucked into my purse. I am able to nurse myself in ways that I never did when I was still working. It’s a very nice situation indeed! Continue reading “Thoughts on Thinking”
