Dear All,

I blame my sister. It is all her fault. If she hadn’t sent me her letter to edit I wouldn’t have started thinking about writing my own, and I would be busily working on my two term papers like a good little student instead of sitting here writing this. I have become an expert at guilt tripping over schoolwork – do they grant degrees for that? Of course not – it isn’t useful…no, I’m not going there.

This year was freakin weird! Or, as I wrote in my journal it – “takes the cake and puts the icing on weird!” I’m pretty accustomed to change, but when I think about all the stuff that got packed into this year I can’t help but think – Duuuude! In the first place I am writing this from my bedroom in Napa, CA, which for the geographically challenged among my readers is at a considerable distance from where I was last year at this time (namely Richmond, VA – not be confused with Richmond CA which is nearby to my current location and has caused some little bit of confusion to my new friends about where exactly I am from). On a side note I have recently been told that my accent is coming out (the southern one) more and more, and I think it is due to my ever present desire to not be from where I am at). Okay, now I’m confused. Did I mention my term papers are due two weeks from today? I think this was a bad idea…

Focus…

Last year went out with a bang with a fantabulous Christmas full of Fortnum’s hamper goodness (God bless the parents!) and much EtOH (in small quantities throughout the day I’ll have you know). We did a low key New Years (I don’t remember it so it can’t have been much of a party), and finished up the mid winter festivities with the last of our annual Twelfth Night parties. I remember that one – VERY well.

It started with, well it was loads of fun to plan and we were ready to go all out and have a houseful of laughing-happy-dancing people. And – if that sentence was re-written with the word “houseful” removed it would be the truth! Yeah, so 40 turned into 8, but I should have known that would happen as division by five is common in math…forgive me. *slaps self repeatedly.* In the end we had an intimate but very enjoyable evening, topped early (7am) in the day by the arrival of Maegan R who came all the way from CA on a whim - just to cheer us up and attend our party! Friends really are God’s life preservers! We ate, drank (negative for EtOH), danced, and generally had a smashing good time, what!

The following day (far too early than is good for girls who have had little sleep and/or are jet lagged) we packed our little bags and ran away from home (for the day) to Washington DC to wander through the desert, the jungle, a truly “green” Washington DC and to see the National Archives and the treasures they contain (obscure references are to the Botanical gardens including miniature replicas of DC buildings made out of only natural materials). We ended up at Gordon Biersch (I wonder whose idea that was…) for dinner and then had a small but thrilling adventure finding the hotel – easy once you threw out the directions and just started screaming. We had a few hours sleep and I drove Maegan to the airport for her red eye back to CA. Good friends, good food, good fun, God is so very, very good!

Christmas vacation was over far too soon for my senioritis-infected brain. I started back to school hoping that a calamity would hit which would save me from my own procrastination. Be careful what you wish for – we got word in late February that my Grandfather (Dad’s dad) passed away. He was old and he was very sick, but those are both different from dead. Death is death, but somehow it still shocks you when it comes, even when you might think you ‘expect’ it. Did I mention that the call came while the parents were on holiday, on a cruise ship, in the middle of the Caribbean? How’s that for timing.

I was spending the week at home with J while the parents were gone, commuting to school every day. Good thing too. Call came on Thursday, Friday I tracked down all my teachers and told them I might not be there the next week and J and I cleaned for and hosted a pre-arranged tea at our house on Sunday. Funny how life goes on even when you have checked out. I don’t think anyone at the tea even knew, I don’t remember. That night the parents came home, unpacked, repacked, and we all left for CO the next morning. I was in England for Grandma’s funeral, so I had more than one goodbye to say this time around. My journal records that the week was “a blur of driving, planning, fixing, attending, talking, mourning, shopping, eating and more driving.” I grieved by taking pictures of everyone else grieving. Sometimes I see things clearer through a camera lens…and it is easy to hide behind a viewfinder. We raced home to beat a winter storm that dumped on the Midwest and might have delayed us, stopping only once in Lawrence KS for lunch and some retail therapy at the Jayhawk junk shops. It was gameday against Iowa State and the hawks were out in force…it was exactly what we all needed.

"O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law,
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Cor 15:55-57

" The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26

And then we came home. So now it is a week later, I am more behind in school, yada yada…the funeral postponed the inevitable, but it didn’t take it away completely, so I was still secretly hoping for my calamity. Once again – be careful what you hope for – this time someone else got it --- the Virginia Tech thing happened three days before my birthday and all I could think was “we have shootings in Richmond all the time and we still have to take our exams!” Absolutely amazing how selfish I am capable of being – I begrudged them President Bush at their graduation too, especially since we ended up with an unimpressive senator who made the most preposterous speech at my graduation – anything but inspiring. I think the only reason he wasn’t booed off the stage was because we were all doing our best to ignore him and texting our friends and family (and each other) to whole time. I’m not a big texter (awfully expensive pastime), but it was fun to talk to the fam like they were sitting next to me when they were like…not.

I guess somehow I fast forwarded to graduation – but then again it was the next “big” event I guess. I got through my last semester on a wing and a prayer (accompanied by much weeping, tearing of garments and dumping of ashes). It serves me right for putting any kind of value on worldly attainment – I lost Summa Cum Laude that last semester (gave my one B three brothers to keep him company on my transcript). God (as always) was good though, and showed me what an idiot I was for bemoaning a title that has little value outside the halls of academe. My ever present theme verse struck again “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you…” Matt 6:33. God isn’t fooling when He says “ALL.”

Oooh! Convenient segue into the whole Med school thing! So I applied, right? And I interviewed. And I waited. And I waited. And then I was waitlisted. This is a word that strikes fear and terror into the hearts of pre-meds everywhere. And I got it from two different schools. And I mean different. One was an MD school in VA and the other a DO in CA. Like, polar opposites. Now, folks, if you have been following my life at all for the past, say, six years, you know which one Bridget wanted. The question was; which one did God want? To her great happiness God and Bridget wanted the same school! This was confirmed in so many blessings all along the way, not the least of which was acceptance into a Master’s program at Touro-CA for the next year (after all I couldn’t afford to start paying my school loans back just yet!), a place to live, a church to go to, a car to drive cross-country, and subsequent blessings upon blessings upon (you guessed it) more blessings!

The car is a black Saturn Ion. It is great. It is small. It is very small when you are trying to pack your entire life into it while trying to leave space for yourself, your father, and (bless him!) his one little bag of stuff for the trip cross country! But I am skipping the whole summer, and that is not right…

Summer! Yay! I studied. One should not study all summer AFTER graduation – it is not…it just isn’t! Side note – isn’t “post-graduate study” an oxymoron? In any case, I figured I had better try the new, improved, kinder, gentler MCAT (only 4 ½ hrs instead of 8) over the summer so that I had a better chance of getting into the schools I would reapply to for the start of fall 08 (since waitlist means – no guarantees, but keep in touch!). God was so good, and I got a fair amount of studying done – in fact a lot of studying done considering I started sort of studying around the first or second week in June, and took the test on (get this) Friday the Thirteenth of July (God has a sense of humor). And in that month or so I spent a week site-seeing in Washington DC, a weekend in Philadelphia (Egyptian antiquities – drool, drool, drool) and a couple other odd days doing fun things together with the family (can we say The Phantom of the Opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC?), not to mention the days I just never did get around to studying for one reason or another. I will now confess, in writing, that I only spent about a day going over the entire O-Chem study booklet. Bad me, I know. But God was gracious and raised my overall score by five points. Of course I didn’t know that for another month – but I did know that God was in control and He would work it out (Romans 8:28).

When I woke up from my MCAT stupor I realized that I had two weeks before Dad and I drove off into the sunset for five days on our way to Sunny Californ-i-a. I managed to ignore the looming departure for another week or so and then Mom cornered me and I went through everything I own and made decisions. I left most of my lovely books behind and a few other things that I regret more because they are awkward to take on a plane (how does one transport a four and a half foot ebony staff topped with a large metal serpent’s head? Or a 16th century replica steel bladed sword?) Books are much easier.

The road trip with the father figure was a total blast! We drove 17 hours the first day to Columbia MO, reading an entire book to each other (Playing for Real: Stories from Rocky Mountain Rescue by Mark Scott-Nash – ISBN 10: 0976052563 - $10 on Amazon – buy it), and stopping to acquire and get rid of espresso along the way. Our battle cry was “Anything but Starbucks!” I think we only had to settle once – but in our defense we were desperate! We crashed for the night and were up with the dawn patrol to seek and devour our morning daily double (espresso). We announced our slogan to the concierge and he directed us past the St--------ks to a little coffee shop that was run by an awesome group of Christians – there were scriptures all over the bathroom, walls, even ceiling I think, and it was just SO God! The perfect way to start day two.

We drove from MO to KS and stopped in Lawrence (hello) where I picked up a super awesome Jayhawk sweatshirt among other things (and who knew I would get to wear it proudly before Basketball season even started – Beak ‘Em Hawks!). Had lunch at Buffalo Bob’s Bar-B-Cue (of course) and espresso at the little coffee shop that used to be a bank downtown. Paid my $2 parking ticket – it’s a long story – and headed out of town. We drove through the rest of KS and on through to Pueblo CO for a late meal of green chile, tamales, and homemade salsa. It was hot in Topeka (you know who you are) – and Pueblo too – which explains the oil stain on my brand new upholstery from the ONE candle I brought with me, which leaked (smelled good though).

We had planned to have a day at the Grand Canyon, but we were both tired, so in Lawrence we decided to cancel the extra night in AZ and stay two nights in Pueblo instead (thanks Aunt Susan!). We spent our day-off visiting Colo Spgs, more accurately we visited every bicycle shop in Colo Spgs (daddy needed new shoes), as well as the Garden of the Gods (where we rode down the sweetest hills ever!), and the Olympic Training center (imagine a 50m x 50m pool---drool). We had lunch at La Baguette and headed back to Pueblo for supper with the family. So much good Mexican food! Aunt S was an absolute angel and made me a care package complete with a bright orange Broncos T-shirt. We took off at a decent hour the next morning as we were going to have a short day (around nine hours) to stop just outside of Flagstaff. It was such a good idea that we cancelled the second night there – a terrible hotel – even the spa was terrible, and don’t get me started about the wireless internet and…well…yeah.

After one more day of driving through the ugly part of CA, nous arrivons á San Diego! We got there around 3pm and headed to the R’s house which they were graciously letting us stay at while they were on vacation. We made friends(?) with Jasper the dog and headed to Grossmont for drinks an appetizers at (drum roll please) Casa De Pico! Yippee Skipee! We slept long and happy that night. Jenny was in LA at Costume College, Mom was still in VA, and Maegan was at Big Bear with her fam, so Dad and I spent the whole of the next day riding bikes around Balboa Park and Coronado and then swimming at the North Island Naval Base Beach…I love being a military dependent. The next day the whole family finally got together and the rest of the week was spent in frivolity and much happiness.

On Saturday at the end of the week (Dad and I arrived the previous Sun). Maegan and I got up early and drove into the sunrise (not literally, because that would be backtracking). We spent the next eleven hours driving through the ugliest country I have ever seen in my life. I-5 from San Diego to Napa is just…unique. I saw my first CA wildfire – turned the sky black and glowed red in the (not so distant) distance. I was so glad we had Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to listen to, because it made the nothingness bearable. That and having two drivers – it would be the pits alone. We arrived a little after suppertime in Napa, got lost, and eventually turned up on Kristi’s (my landlord, housemate, and friend) doorstep hungry and exhausted. She was a doll and we got something to eat and went to bed. I have no idea what I said that night, so I hope Kristi, Joel and Karley don’t hold any of it against me. (please?)

Maegan had to get back to SD for work on Monday, so we drove into San Francisco for a day spent exploring the botanical gardens in Golden Gate Park (Washington D.C. eat your heart out!) and Fisherman’s wharf (from Ghirardelli Square). It was a lovely afternoon and Maegan made her flight with oodles of time to spare. The last few months have been an adventure the many and varied circumstances and happenings of which would fill many, many pages and so will have to be saved for one-on-one type conversations between youze and meeze. Suffice it to say that I am where I am supposed to be and The Lord God is an amazing God.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11

This year has been one of change, turmoil, tears, and sometimes near despair, but God is faithful and always will be. Without Him this would all mean nothing and I am so grateful to Him for being a part of my life. I hope and pray that your year is filled with Him, because He is everything.

Love and much more Love,
Bridget
TUCOM Class of 2012

P.S. Somehow I missed the part about me getting accepted into Medical School! Corks popping! I will finish my core Master’s courses over the spring and summer and start the DO program in the fall of 2008 for four exciting years of…better not to think about it. But – my clinical rotations will most likely take me all over the country so be looking for me at a hospital near you! I really need to find a portable espresso machine…B