Nurse Hillie

My mother was a nurse. And a very good one at that. When we were kids, my mother would bandage and balm our cuts without so much as a squeal. We could puke everywhere and my mother would not wretch as she cleaned it up. Poop, pee, puss, bring it on – my mom never wavered. But when we’d be at a friend’s house and hurt ourselves, the mothers there would squawk and balk at the sight of a cut finger. Not my mom.

Jane and I call it “Nurse Hillie Mode”.

To this day, if we have any medical question or have something weird to show her, her voice changes, her demeanour changes and Nurse Hillie comes on the scene. Her voice gets more even and she talks just a little slower and a little deeper. Her brow knits a bit and she very efficient. Blood pouring out of a cut? She’ll calmly and firmly wipe it away and see how bad the cut is. Ingrown hair? She’ll firmly wipe the area and efficiently pluck that hair free. There’s a picture of my mom on her graduation day from nursing school – she must have 19 or 20. She’s wearing one of those old-fashioned nursing caps and the crisp white uniform. Whenever Nurse Hillie comes on the scene, I picture a swish of a nursing cape and Hillie in her nursing cap zooming in close on the malady.

So when I sent her this link yesterday, I expected Nurse Hillie to love it. NOTE: If you are at all squeamish, do not look. It is disgusting and is still haunting my thoughts and making me gag. That's why it's not embedded. If you're a masochist, you will click on the link.

Nurse Hillie loved it, natch. In her Nurse Hillie voice, all deep and clam, she tells me that it is not a zit but a blocked sweat gland and then tells me how they develop. She said the goo coming out is thick and …I cut her off, switching the topic to her favourite – George.

“So how is George,” I asked, trying to direct her away from the horror.

“Cute,” she said curtly, as if George was a nobody. “The stuff that comes out smells like sour milk.”

Oh Hillie. When she said that, I pictured the swish of the nursing cape as she ran off to the next medical dilemma. Her voice got animated and bubbly as she talked on an on about George. Nurse Hillie left the scene and Hillie was back in full force.

I miss her.

Medically Yours,

xoxoSallyS