Another dream, another story

I had a dream last night - finally something different. It's no fun to dream if it becomes monotonous. Anyway, I had just started working in a hospital. My responsibilities remain to be explained to me, but I liked working there. My new boss, we'll call him Todd, wants to meet with me several times throughout my first week. At the end of the week, apparently, I'll have to complete a 'love survey'. I'm curious & intrigued to reach the end of the week. But there's plenty to keep me busy until then. Like Tuesday night - that was crazy - the paramedics were arguing over a patient's head with the nurses & doctors on duty. A few of us stepped in, got the patient to a bed in the ER, & tried to calm everyone down. Paramedic #1 (just got home from Iraq): "Stand down! We have the situation under control!"
Head Nurse: "Look! You're not in the field! You're in my ER! You've done your part, now let us do ours!"
Paramedic #2 gets Paramedic/Vet calmed down & back to their rig.
I go over to the Head Nurse: "You got brothers, right?"
HN: "Huh?"
me: "Do you have any brothers?"
HN: "Yeah. Two."
me: "Older?"
HN: "Yeah. I'm the youngest."
me: "They made you pretty tough."
HN: "Ha, yeah I guess you're right."
me: "I have one older brother & he tells me all the time how he failed trying to toughen me up."
HN: "I don't know. You've been here two days & you've already got Todd worshiping the ground you walk on.
me: "What? Worshiping?!"
HN: "Easy - it's a good, non-sexual thing. He responds well to confidence. You've got power, girl. Just walking around the ER, patients know you're somebody around here."
me: "Talk about an ego boost."
HN: "Hey now. Take it with a grain of salt - please. The last thing we need is another cocky higher-up around here."
me: "No worries. My feet are nailed to the ground."
Toward the end of the day, I find a phone to call Mom - I need a ride home. Todd walks by - "Hey. Everything alright? Heard about the rumble in the ER. Who won?"
me: "Rumble? Well...the Jets stood their ground. The Sharks took the forfeit & went back to their turf."
Todd: "That's got to be the nerdiest answer I've heard in this hospital."
me: "A. I'm happy you got the reference - it would have been tragic if you hadn't. B. Isn't that why you hired me?"
I make the call to Mom.
Mom: "Can I come in? Or would that make you feel like you're in grade school?"
me: "You can come in, Mom. I promise I won't be embarrassed."
Toni - the hospital's PR rep - comes over: "Were you just flirting with Todd?"
me: "Whoa! What? He just asked me about the ER battle."
Toni: "Which you cleaned up very nicely. But I've only seen him flirt once & that's what it looked like."
me: "I just started here! And he's my boss!!"
Toni: "Down girl - you'll start a riot."
me: "I don't need to be the kiss-ass who wants to sleep with the boss."
Mom walks up to the ER desk - "I'm looking for - "
me: "Hi, Mom. Cheryl (the nurse sitting at the desk), this is my Mom. She's an R.N."
So I introduce my mom to the rest of my new work friends. Mom hasn't worked in a hospital since I was a little kid - she's remembering.
I clock out for the night & go to meet Mom at the door.
"Don't I get an introduction?"
Todd has a smug but laid-back look on his face.
me: "Oh. Sure, sorry about that."
Mom: "You ready, kiddo? Oh - who is this?"
me: "This is Todd - my boss."
Todd: "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kelly. Your daughter is fitting in very well around here. You should be very proud."
Mom: "That's always music to a mother's ears. It was very nice meeting you, Todd."
me: "Have a good night."
Todd: "I'll be seeing you."
Walking to the car, Mom is thrilled how well I am settling in. Finally.
Mom: "I hope you're not too tired."
me: "I'll be alright. Why?"
Mom: "The party is tonight. Everyone's already at the house."
me: "Oops. Forgot about that."
Pulling up to our house, I see that the already limited parking on our block is completely hopeless.
Inside my 30 first cousins, their spouses, & their kids are squeezed into my living room. It's winter but the windows have been mercifully thrown open.
I'm greeted by Beth - my mother's older sister.
Beth: "Hi, honey! How are you?! Mom tells me you have a new job! You're working at a hospital? How exciting, Bridgee!!"
I cringe. Only three people can get away with calling me Bridgee - & Beth is not one of them.
She reaches for me, aiming to hug me - I say nothing & walk away.
Beth: "Oh, Bridgee's still not talking to Aunt Beth."
me: "Nope, and that's not changing either. Hi, Fiona! How are ya?! Let's go find your sister."
I haven't spoken to Beth in almost two years. She may never understand why.
I'm happy to see the rest of my family - it's not everyday you can cram over 100 people into a twin in northeast Philly.
The usual questions - "How's work?" "Seeing anyone special?" - fly around the room.

*To Be Continued*

The Year I Stopped Believing...

When I was six years old, I stopped believing in Santa. It was Christmas morning when I lost my faith in jolly ol' St. Nick. I wasn't upset - I knew that my brother & some of my friends had stopped believing, but I never thought that I would stop until I woke up Christmas morning with proof.

"Bridget, can you run up to my room & grab the clover bag, please?
"Yes, Mommy."
The last days of my childish innocence are numbered.
I got upstairs to my parents' bedroom. Through the door I could see a million bags! How was I supposed to locate one specific bag?!
"No peaking up there!"
"I'm not! But I can't find a Clover bag, Mommy!"
"Look next to my trunk!"
Mom told me not to peak, but what's wrong with peaking? Mom's not Santa - she doesn't have all my Christmas presents - I wonder if Santa got my letter? I hope I get everything I asked for - What's in this bag? ELMO! - "Did you find it?"
"I found it!"
"Be careful coming down the stairs, please!"
"Yes, Mommy!"
"Thank you! Mommy's little elf! Would you like to help me wrap some presents for your cousins?"
"Okay. Mommy, did Santa get my letter?"
"Yes he did. We need to make sure we leave cookies out for Santa when he leaves presents under the tree."
"What kinda cookies?"
"Whatever kind you want to make for Santa, honey."

Christmas morning came at last. Michael came into my room early.
"Can we go wake up Mom & Dad now?"
"Not yet. Stay in bed a little longer."
"Okay..."

*To be continued*

Life is all about timing...good or bad

I have The One-Minute Writer to thank for this prompt ("Timing"): I had just started dating my first boyfriend when the guy I had been in love with for years finally asked me to be with him. I'm still not sure if that was good or bad timing.
*This is a little rough around the edges - Please be patient with me as I sort through the emotional disaster it seems to be*

The fall of 2007 was a blissful time in my life. I had just started my sophomore year of college, I had met the boy of my dreams, & my life was finally starting to feel like I was in the right place at the right time. This boy, we'll call him Kevin (see "How Writing Saved My Life"), was my whole world. I was completely enraptured & didn't think anything could ever go wrong as long as we were together. He made me laugh, smile, feel beautiful. I was actually, genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.
Sometime in October of that year, I was talking to a good friend of mine - let's call him Josh - whom I had been in love with since I was 13 years old (I am now 21, you do the math). Now, Josh wasn't the type of boy my parents would ever approve of - he was the bad boy. Which is initially what attracted me to him. He was dangerous & off-limits. But we had been close friends for so long & I had always loved him. Before starting my sophomore year I asked Josh if he wanted to be with me & he said no. His reason was that he didn't want to stand in the way of me meeting someone else.
When I was talking to Josh in October, about a month after I started dating Kevin, Josh told me that he had always loved me & wanted to be with me. Instantly I was furious. I wanted to be with him as well, but he said no to me! He had a window of opportunity & he closed it. I couldn't understand why he would tell me this after I had started a relationship with someone different - after I finally found my happiness. But it also reinforced how much I loved him - just as much as my 13-year-old self.
I was so conflicted. I stopped talking to Josh for a while after that. Kevin found out that Josh was proclaiming his love for me & wasn't too thrilled to know he had some competition for my heart. I went from happy to having to convince the boy I loved that I was with him & only him. Josh's proclamation certainly caused some of the wonderful drama that seems to always find a place in my life. So I did everything I could to focus on my relationship with Kevin.

The Battle Rages On

Everyone is referred to as "your (fill in relationship here)." For example, "Your mother wants to see you," or, "When are you going out with your brother?" They don't have names, they are no longer directly associated with him - he's made them mine. I wasn't under the impression that they were prizes to be won in our war.

Memories really are just where you laid them...

*Rough Draft*
"You know it's funny what a young man recollects? 'Cause I don't remember bein' born. I don't recall what I got for my first Christmas and I don't know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. But I do remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the wide world." -Forrest Gump

It's funny how some memories - especially the traumatic ones (positive & negative) - stay with us, while other, less significant events are lost in the past.
I can remember being three years old & in pre-school. I met my first "boyfriend" there. His name was Nicky. I met my first best friend, Erin.
I recall being five & watching daytime TV with my Dad, eating lunch with him & then going to kindergarten for the afternoon.
My first day of first grade was very traumatic. I had never spent a whole day in school before. I couldn't understand. I cried - sobbed & screamed - when my Mom dropped me off. I refused to let go of her - my teacher, Mrs. Finnegan, pried my tiny fingers from my mother & ushered me in line with the rest of my classmates - some upset, some eager.
One of my Christmas presents that year was a trip to Disney World with my Mom & my big brother.
In second grade, I met my second best friend, MaryKate, who didn't really become my best friend until the fifth grade.
First Reconciliation and First Communion were that year & I was so uncomfortable my puffy, itchy white dress. Mom told me I looked beautiful & I couldn't wait to put on some shorts & a t-shirt!
The summer between second & third grades was the most traumatic by far: my infamous nose job in the Pocono Mountains!
In third grade I played Clara Barton. I wore some of my Mom's old clothes, practiced all my lines & was the only girl in my group. I guess that was my first memorable interaction with boys.
Fourth grade was...tough.
Fifth grade wasn't too bad.
That was the year I started dancing. I didn't want to start taking lessons, but Mom insisted. Turned out to be a lot of fun, actually. That's right, Mom, I admit it!
Sixth grade was a lot more difficult.
In seventh grade, we went to Disney World for the second time.
Eighth grade proved to be much smoother than previous years. Then I graduated from grade school! I am a member of the Class of 2002! Okay, that's just scary...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet."

If I was a boy then my name would be Andrew - Drew for short. I'm good with Andrew, but Drew? I'm not particularly a fan. I prefer Andy. But I'm not a boy, thankfully. My name is Bridget, a very Irish name meaning "strength." I like my first name, I think it fits who I am - at least, I like to thikn that I am a strong woman most days. The real treasure is my middle name: Furey. As in "hell hath no fury" - at least that's how it's pronounced. Furey doesn't mean anger - actually, I'm not sure what it means. I am named after my great-great-grandmother Bridget Furey Monaghan.

I haven't always liked my middle name. In grade school, when I told my friends, I was ridiculed & called "Furry." They made me feel like their pet rabbit.

In high school I gained not popularity but recognition as "BridgetFurey." Everyone seemed to love my name & soon shortened it to just Furey. I took the new & awesome nickname to college with me. For two years I was Bridget to my teachers & new people, but my identity had become Furey.
One of my good friends who loved my middle name would announce "It's not a hurricane - it's the Furey!" whenever I walked into a room.
When I was introduced to someone new, my friends would introduce me as Furey - just for the reaction of this new person - & it was up to me to explain & clarify my full name.

Furey is certainly a great conversation starter - "Hey, you'll never guess my middle name!" - & it's given me mystery, made me interesting. What I'm saying is that, now, I appreciate my name. I like my name! Come on, Bridget Furey Kelly? How much more Irish could I be?!

Coming Home

There’s something about coming home. Whether you’ve been out for the day, or gone for months, there’s something ultimately fantastic about coming home. Your family is there to greet you. Your dog runs into the room, barely able to control his/her excitement at your long-awaited arrival.
I love coming home. Especially after a long semester at school, when I haven’t been home in weeks. I immediately want to eat some home-cooked food, catch up with my family, and enjoy the atmosphere I have grown up in.