RNMSN on HubPages

My name is Barbara Ann Reynolds Bethard.I was born in B'ham, Al; I am rotten daughter number two of five children. I have two brothers and two sisters. My parents were wonderful, very loving and supportive. They were also domineering, pushed me and all of us, to set goals, have dreams, follow through with work, keep our word, be honorable, have a strict form of morals and ethics and they never let up nor gave up on me, or any of the others!

In short, until my children were teenagers and hated both me and their Dad, I was positive my parents were the strictest parents ever in the history of the world and no one had it as bad as I did as a child.

Finally, I think adult in training was about 18 or so, my momma got so exasperated with me she said, "OK< That's it, I've had it, do not apologize to me or your Dad anymore! You were and are a wonderful daughter; we love you and are so proud of you, so that's the end of it! No more apologizing for your behavior as a child under this roof!"

Made me feel so good. But, I still catch myself saying to myself, "Oh Momma, Daddy, I am so sorry, I was such an idiot! Please forgive me for doing that to you"

Because, though it sounds terrible it is true in a way, the mother’s curse really works. You know the one? It's where your mom is so mad at you she says "I hope you have a child just like you one day!"

I am an RN, mainly med-surg background, I have a masters in nursing education though I fear I waited too long to get it. But that is a story in itself.

I do love and long to teach...though as all nurses know, we teach all the time...it's just more fun to teach young students, especially when they are so eager, so ready to help, service oriented young people.

But that too, is a story in itself!

I was never going to get married, nor have children. I have known since I was very small that I was to be a nurse (the nursing 101 professor made sure to tell me way back in the dark 70's (that's the 20th century 70's you guys!! NO comments from the peanut gallery :) that I was therefore not fully developed, that I would NEVER be a nurse! Can you believe it?

I went bawling to Momma of course. She's so great, she "HMMMM-ED" at me, put her hands on her hips, cocked her head and her eyebrows at me and asked "But I thought you've always said God said you were to be a nurse when you grew up?" Sniffling and hiccupping I replied "That's right, He did" and Mom said "So, some professor, that you do not even know, tells you this ONCE and you decide you will trust this professor over what God, whom you've known and loved ALL your life has told you? HMMMM?"

She's such a hoot, my Momma. Thank you, Mom.

However, now, I agree....a little bit...with that mean ole professor...she was right in one regard...I was, still am, excessively trusting of everyone I meet; I tell the truth, I expect to hear and see the truth in return, and as any nurse will tell you, that alone will get you chewed up and spit out!

So even after three decades and some few years nursing, I still get all twisted up, raw and bleeding (emotionally speaking) when I see healthcare workers who are not service oriented, snatch and jerk and act rudely, talk inappropriately, go too fast, do all the things everyone hears about happening in nursing homes, home health or hospital settings.

But I am still here, still giving care with loving hands, still learning and teaching daily, whether the vast majority of the other workers do so, or not.

Because there was one hard earned lesson that I learned within the first few years with RN, BSN after my name. The world does NOT want to be saved! I need to do as much as I possibly can in whatever little part of the world I am in and leave the rest to the Higher Power.

Did that thing say "SHORT BIO?" ha!

I made my parents’ sooooo mad in 1979, came to Tucson to visit an old friend, stepped off the airplane and said to myself, "UH OH I've been living in the wrong place all of my life! I went home, gave two weeks notice, put myself and my cat on an airplane and that was that until 1995! Well, actually, it was a lot more than “that was that” but this is a short bio, correct?

Made things worse yet when my sisters followed me a few months later! The baby sister went home the next year but my older sister and I stayed.

I met my best friend, my hubby, in Tucson, Az, in 1981, we were married in Bisbee, Az, in March of 1982. We were married by the local undertaker, Frank Mitchell. He always brought the meat dish to the pot luck dinners.

Then I called and said I had met a man and we were going to live together a while...you can imagine what my parents had to say about that!

So, when I called and said "Guess what, Dad? We're getting married by the undertaker!" my dad hung up on me!"

Did I mention he was also the Justice of the Peace?

Ooops, oh well...I think I forgot to tell my dad that too at the time....hmmmmm, but oh my, doesn't it make a superb story the other way?

My best friend and I have two adults in training...would anyone like one? And we love them dearly. We hope to go home to our beloved desert soon...anyone want to buy our house? Ha-ha

I have been writing, or drawing, or doing whatever it takes to get my emotions out of my body since I was very young. I come by it honestly; I have copies, in their own handwriting, of words written by my mother, her sisters and my maternal grandmother. Words that are so precious to me, words that carry great meaning and power, words that pull me up and inspire me, daily, words I cannot live without.

Hub Pages, to me, is a place to hone my craft, for though I am a nurse, that is not the height and breadth of what makes me, me.

These pages are not specifically geared to make money for me (although, yes, I hope to do so, who doesn't?) But mostly it is a place to learn and to meet others who are striving to learn the words craft as well!

Here's to Hub Pages!

Here’s to all people, everywhere, on Hub Pages who are diligently and intellectually working hard to achieve their own peace of self, giving back to the community and raising the bar for hopeful writer’s such as myself!

Last but not least, here's to three generations of courageous women who have written out their feelings for all the world to see!

 

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