Coming Home

Oh Sister,

It's strange to think that it's already Thanksgiving.  It doesn't feel like I haven't been home in 4 months.  The time seems to drag and yet it feels like a week since I was last home.  The strangest thing will be to see everyone and see how they've aged, both young and old. 
Medical school is going well.  There's so much to learn but somehow it's not impossible to do.  Granted, I am never ahead or even caught up (I'm on page 54 as I type this and the class is on page 80, at 3 pages per hour I should be caught up by next semester) to what I am learning in class but I know what I need to when I need to. 
There's a necessary transition that takes place in becoming a doctor where you learn how to read a person in a way that other people can't.  I don't mean that in the sense that I can look at someone and know what is the matter at them, however there certainly are times that thoughts cross my mind, I mean that I can look at the language that doctors use and understand what they are talking about.  The underlying mechanisms of the body are becoming known to me and it's a very strange thing.  To look at a body and know what nerves are powering what muscles. To think about those nerves and know what neurotransmitters are driving the response.  To associate the correct drug to either agonize or antagonize the symptoms.  It's a strange thing.
The things that I have done in the past 4 months boggle my mind.  In the way that I will come home and see Abigail and be shocked at how big and how grown up she is, but to you the changes seem natural because you watched them gradually occur, I experience the same thing with what I have learned and can apply.  Sometimes I think that I haven't learned much until a concept comes up in class and I am able to associate what is being taught with a concept that came up months ago that I struggled with and yet now take for granted.  The changes were gradual but The Change is profound.

Over the past four months I've dissected a cadaver, learned the autonomic nervous system, learned cardiophysiology (I can put a stethoscope to someone's chest and actually have a clue what I'm hearing), learned to treat all sorts of interesting maladies, learned the biochemistry of lots of fun diseases, played doctor in a serious situation and had people confess their deepest secrets to me, I have grown up.

I am very excited to come home and see everyone.  I can't wait to just destress and spend time being around everyone who knows me.  I just wonder how I will apply those things that I have learned, how everyone will look to me. 

Love you both,

Tim

Oh, Brother! You Are Coming Home.

Oh, Brother!

How the world gets away from me sometimes...
You are coming home for the first time since July.
Thanksgiving. How appropriate.

Do you feel like you are coming home changed?
It has been a few months, but it feels like a lifetime ago to me anyway.
You have been immersed in this whole new world and whirlwind of class and near constant studying.
I imagine coming back here might feel like crashing.
Everything nearly the same as how you left it.

We are excited to see you though.
Skype has been nice, but not the same.
It will be nice to see you and Abigail together again.

Just want you to know that we love you.

xo,
Sister

Hey!

Went and bought my first pairs of scrubs and picked up my white coat today.  It's really strange to be actually starting this journey.  It's nice to have Honey here to help me on my way.  It will be more difficult to be away from home when she goes back to school, but it will help a lot that I will have classes to keep me focused.  I don't know how the classes and everything are going to be.  From the lives my roommates live I think it won't be too bad.  They both have lots of time to hang out and relax so I am happy about that.  Tomorrow I'm going to go get my ID card and see what the gym looks like.  I will let you know how it all turns out.  Give my love to the family.

Tim

Hey!

I'm sitting at home on the couch and thinking about the fact that I'm leaving for school in 2 weeks.  I was just reading all of these threads on facebook from my future classmates and I was really relieved to see that they are getting as much information as I am.  It would go a long way for the school to simply tell us what the schedule is and when I'm supposed to register for classes.  It seems like a lot of us are traveling from far away, you'd think the school would want to smooth the transition as much as possible.  It is exciting though.  I am looking into changing my license because it's going to be a pain to drive my car back up here once a year to get inspected.  At the same time it's something ridiculous like $500 to get a license and registration down there.  I am going to have to think about the pros and cons.

I am trying to figure out going to see Grandma and Poppa and Grandpa and Virginia before I leave.  Next week is Dad's side of the family for celebrating the Fourth of July.  Let me know if you are interested in going down to see Mom's side of the family before I leave.  I am working Tuesday/Thursday this week and Tuesday/Wednesday the week after. 

It's crazy that I leave so soon.  I can't believe that today was my last day of full time at work.  It's exactly one month until I get my white coat.  Seems incredible that I will be tasked with actually learning and practicing medicine so soon.  Wish me luck.

Love you.

Oh, Brother! A Morning Moon.

Oh, Brother!

A couple of Saturdays ago Abigail and I opened the blinds at around 6:30 a.m. to this:

I often tell her the story of how when you were young we would go outside and sing to thee moon every night before bed.

I see the moon and the moon sees me,
over the top of the apple tree,
please let the moon that shines on me,
shine on the ones I love

Love,
Sister

Oh, Brother! The Love!

Oh, Brother!

On Sunday night you stayed with Abigail for an hour and a half while Brad and I went to dinner.

I am so thankful for your loving care of Abigail and for your enthusiasm for spending time with her.

I hope that some day I will be able to reciprocate whether it is taking care of your baby/ies or dog/s.

It is so special to see you with Abigail.  You are the "baby" of the family and I have never seen you with any babies of any kind, really. I have seen how much you have loved our animals in the past, but not babies.  So, to see the love between you and my baby is sometimes overwhelming and always beyond wonderful. 

She loves you back <3  Yesterday (after all I am writing this at 2:56 a.m on Tuesday) we were playing with some of the same toys you had played with the night before. I said "Uncle Timothy was the last one to play with these with you, huh?" and she smiled so big and started babbling.

So even though she might cry sometimes when I am away or, like Sunday night, have a few tears in her eyes when I return... I also take that as a sign that she is o.k., that I have left her with someone who she feels safe being vulnerable with. I notice that she has her arms around you, that she is not inconsolable, that she is easily soothed when I take her in my arms, but does not immediately reach her arms out to me... and I see the love.

Thank you!

Love,
Sister

Oh, Brother! Good Bye, Hostess!

Bankrupt!
No more Twinkies!
No more Ding Dongs!
No more SnoBalls!
I don't remember us having a lot of these things in our home as children, but I remember walking by them in the grocery aisle.
The article is here.

Love,
Sister